Bona Fide – A GW adaptation of The Proposal (2009)
by ExecutiveShrimp
Summary: GWCU, 2x1: Heero is being deported. Duo suggests (or proposes, if you will) marriage, to get Heero a Green Card. All they have to do is convince Immigration that their love is 'bona fide'. The problem is… they hate each other.
1. Chapter 1

_**Bona Fide **_**is part of the GWCU: The Gundam Wing Cinematic Universe**

**This series of stories places our two (or more) favorite Gundam Wing characters in movie "universes". Not following the original story of the movies, but borrowing their worlds, events and/or premises.**

**For a comprehensive introduction to the concept of the GWCU - as well as an up-to-date list of movie adaptations that are completed, in progress or planned - view my profile page.**

* * *

_**Bona fide**_

_A GWCU fanfiction based on The Proposal (2009)_

* * *

_**PART ONE**_

"I see your racism, and I raise you… _moral bankruptcy_." The bettor paused for dramatic effect.

Duo snorted into his coffee. "You play the moral bankruptcy card every time."

"Why wouldn't I, when it wins me the game every time?"

"Okay, so what did he do this time?"

"He is defending Arloft enterprises against a class act suit of over a hundred kids who have permanent cognitive damage due to lead poisoning, because Arloft didn't meet the safety standards for their plant, up the road from a fucking pre-school," Enmar boasted, sounding entirely too proud even though he knew how wrong it was.

"My boss told me if my surgical residency doesn't work out for me, I should try my hand at picking cotton!" Nick reiterated.

"One hundred and seven _kids_, Nick."

Duo watched the exchange between the two of them barely stifling his laughter with his to-go cup of coffee. They continued to bicker until the vendor intervened, after dutifully serving three other patrons.

"Come on guys," said the man. "Who's it gonna be?"

Nick and Enmar both looked at Duo.

"… Fine," he drawled and he stepped forward to hand the vendor enough cash to cover the order of four coffees. He winked at the older man and thanked him for his patience and the excellent coffee, then he followed his two friends as they slowly meandered to the other side of the park.

"What happened to our reigning champion of My-Boss-is-the-Most-Horrible-Person-in-the-World?" Enmar wondered.

Duo shrugged evasively and pretended to gulp down more coffee, while there was only a tiny sip left. He didn't feel like playing the game. Even though they played every day, since the three of them first met by chance at the vendor on 5th avenue by Washington Square Park, two years ago.

Enmar graduated Summa Cum Laude from the NYU School of Law on the other end of the park and now worked as an associate for a top-tier corporate law firm uptown.

Nick – Nicholas J. Williams the second, son to Nicholas J. Williams the first, most affluent African American businessman in Manhattan – was a surgical resident at Mount Sinai hospital, a hop and a skip and a metro ride away from his parents' 5th avenue penthouse.

Duo… well… Duo was assistant to the curator of the Mulls Kinney Art Gallery, directly overlooking Washington Square Park, and that fourth cup of coffee was for his boss, Heero Yuy.

The worst man in the world.

The game the three of them played every morning had been his idea. It stopped being funny yesterday evening, ten minutes after closing.

"Come on," Enmar prodded. "Yuy didn't do anything all day yesterday worth mentioning? Is he going soft on you?"

"Or going hard on you?" Nick chimed in, with a dirty look that left nothing to the imagination.

The two of them kept pestering him as they neared the subway entry where their paths would split and Duo was certain he wasn't going to tell them anything about what had happened last night. Until all of a sudden he stopped dead in his tracks on the sidewalk and when his friends realized five steps later that he had fallen behind and looked over their shoulder, Duo blurted:

"I might go to prison for five years because of my boss." The admission knocked the air right out of him.

Before asking any more questions, Nick produced a twenty from the breast pocket of his scrubs, to cover the cost of the coffee, conceding that Duo had won the game after all. Then: "What the fuck happened?"

* * *

_**Last night**_

Once the diplomat and his delegation had been guided out through the doors of the gallery, Duo released a deep breath and with some dread he dared to stick his nose in his armpit to have a sniff. Not too bad, he concluded, he mostly just smelled like the receptionist's floral deodorant that he had asked to borrow in this case of emergency.

The French diplomat had come into the gallery two hours earlier, trailed by body guards and superfluous staff, wanting to be hosted by the renowned curator of the prestigious Mulls Kinney gallery. Only the curator was nowhere to be found and Duo couldn't call Brian Mulls or Sondra Kinney to tell them that; he had to cover for his boss, who had been missing in action since last Monday. Duo had worked for the man for over two years and Heero had never taken a vacation, or even a personal day, in all that time – and so neither had Duo. For him to be absent, unannounced, for three days, was so bizar it might have warranted a missing person's report, if not for the single message Heero sent Duo on Monday morning:

_Cover for me. _

Duo had been busting his ass, hosting buyers – kissing ass -, coordinating the arrival of new pieces, overseeing the installation of the Peacecraft "light sculptures" and meeting with nervous new-coming artist Quatre Winner to pick six of his pieces for his exposition, even when the self-deprecating blonde thought only one of his works was worthy. In the meantime, he had to juggle the staff, organize the political fundraiser for next week and deal with walk-in wannabe artists begging for some recognition, in addition to rescheduling all of Heero's appointments and answering his calls, which was is actual job.

The French diplomat was a most unwelcome surprise. Made even more awkward when the man was clearly looking to buy, but Duo was not authorized to make any sales.

Every morning that week, Duo had come into work with a cup of coffee for his boss, expecting him to have returned. But he still hadn't been there.

Duo was starting to panic when he went back up to Heero's office to see there was another missed call from Brian Mulls himself. The gallery owner had been calling all day and Duo had alternated lying with simply not answering to avoid having to set a concrete meeting between the owner and his hard-working, perfectionist, always-there-when-he-needed-him, prized curator, whom MoMA attempted to steal from the gallery on the regular.

As was becoming of a good assistant, he made yet another note of a missed call before figuring he should find some time to catch up on those unread emails in his boss' inbox.

He ran into the same problem he'd been having all week… Heero was fluent in seven languages and Duo was barely proficient in one. There were Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian and German emails that were all Greek to him. He moved them to a folder labeled "To Do" and then an automated message popped up.

_Inbox nearly full. You have 4034 of 4048 MB in use._

"Shut the fuck up!" He snapped, making vulgar gestures at the Mac screen. "Shut. The fuck. Up." He closed the window, but another email came in and the message popped up again.

_Inbox nearly full. You have 4046 of 4048 MB in use._

"I shouldn't even be doing this. I shouldn't even be here. This is fucking insane." He pushed his chair back, away from the desk, before he would punch a hole in the expensive screen. He wasn't even really an assistant. Not really. But God, did that sound dumb to even think. Just as dumb as all those times he used to say "I'm not really a waiter."

He was an artist – a starving artist, if not for this gig. He wanted to have his work on the walls of places like the Mulls Kinney gallery. He wanted French diplomats to stop in front of his pieces and stare in contemplation and awe. He wanted to leave something beautiful and memorable, in an ugly world where people cherish hardly anything.

The only reason he even had this job, was because the day he decided to come grovel at the feet of the curator of the Mulls Kinney gallery, after seeing a picture of him in the New York Times, happened to be day the man was interviewing for a new assistant. And Gisele at reception – bless her big heart in her big bosom – didn't quite understand and lumped him together with the other applicants.

Heero figured out his true intentions the moment Duo stepped into his office. The man asked to see his work and Duo gave him the USB drive he had with him, as his work was completely digital. Heero had spent all of ten seconds looking at over two dozen images and never commented on any of it. Duo was dismissed and he went home defeated. But Gisele called him the next day to tell him he was expected to start the next Monday at eight.

For about six months he had no idea why Heero had hired him, because it was clear the man was not pleased at all with his abilities as an assistant. Then he learned that Heero never managed to keep an assistant longer than a few months. They all quit on him, because he was insufferable. He was banking on Duo not giving up so easily, because Heero knew there was more that Duo wanted out of this. He was abusing that drive to get his work out there and make the necessary connections in the industry to make that happen, to motivate him.

"Abusing" because two years later Duo was still an artist in his own head only. Heero had never given him the break he was hoping for and the man had been nothing but a condescending prick every single day.

Every time Duo considered quitting, he didn't. Because it meant admitting that all that time and effort had been completely wasted. Instead he nourished the illusion that "tomorrow could be the day". Or the day after that. Or the day after that…

_Your inbox is full. Please clear message to free available memory._

He was starting to smell his own sweat now. He was done. So done. He hadn't slept in three days and had barely managed to eat anything. Pure anxiety had kept him going. But he was exhausted now. "I'm quitting," he said to himself. "I quit. I have to quit."

"Put it in writing and leave it on my desk."

Duo jumped out of his seat – and nearly out of his skin - as his boss came strutting into the office. He stammered something along the lines of "I wasn't being serious" in response to the man's calm monotone.

"Too bad." In fluid motions Heero draped his cashmere coat over the back of the chair Duo had vacated and placed his leather briefcase by the left leg of the desk. His five-thousand dollar suit fit him impeccably, as every single one of them did. It was a black ensemble; black slacks and a black jacket with military-style buttons down the front and upright collar, showing only a hint of the black, silk shirt underneath. It was pouring rain outside, but there wasn't a single drop on him, like the weather just didn't affect him.

Duo felt like cursing up a storm. It was completely unfair for the man to have thrown him into the deep end like that without even the slightest hint of gratitude, but it wasn't exactly unexpected. "Where have you been?" He did demand to know.

Heero made eye-contact for the first time. Those cobalt blue eyes made the temperature in the room drop. "Just because I left you in charge for a couple days, doesn't mean you are the boss, Duo. I do not owe you an explanation."

Duo clenched his jaw and his fists and headed for the door. "You're welcome," he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, did I forget to thank you for installing the light sculptures in the wrong order? Or signing off on the poor job they did polishing the floor of the left wing? Or hanging the Gabo facing the window? Or placing the Dru by the Margaret?"

Duo turned to face him. As combative as he felt, he couldn't speak his mind. This job was the only thing he had and the only way to achieve his dream – and make rent. Tomorrow could be the day. Or the day after that. Or the day after that. He had invested too much to throw in the towel now. And, frankly, Heero had thrown worse punches than that. The man was merciless. Moreover, although he was from Japan, he had studied in England, giving him the kind of sophisticated accent, however subtle, that made his insults even more scathing because they somehow sounded more valid.

"I saw all of that on my way from the entry to my office," Heero continued. "I can only imagine what other blunders I'll unearth as I try to undo the mess you've made of this gallery."

To think he had actually spent the past three days wishing for Heero to come back as soon as possible. Now he just wished his boss had fallen off the edge of the world. He swallowed his pride, there was so little left, it wasn't hard to stomach. "Brian Mulls has called for you eight times today. He wants to see you."

Heero redirected his gaze to his computer screen. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him you were busy, but that you would come by his office as soon as possible."

"He doesn't know I've been away?"

"I don't think so."

Heero pursed his lips. "You don't think so…" He covered the mouse with his hand and scrolled through the endless list of emails. "I thought I instructed you to _cover_ for me."

Duo flared his nostrils.

"Is he still here, or did he leave already?"

Duo said flatly: "I don't think so."

Heero didn't even acknowledge the sarcasm. "I guess I'll go upstairs and see if he's still here." He clicked on an email, typed one of his characteristic one-word replies, clicked 'send' and then rose from his seat. He brushed by Duo in the hallway and motioned for his assistant to follow him when he was already at the end of the hall.

Attuned to Heero's minimal gestures, Duo leapt into action and followed with quickened pace to catch up to him. Mulls office was only three flights of stairs up, but they took the elevator anyway.

The first four floors of the building was the gallery itself. A lot of real-estate in Manhattan. The gallery was known for giving each piece plenty of space, rather than cramming too much work on one wall. The floor above were offices for the head curator – Heero -, sales representatives, marketing, administration and other staff. Then there were two more floors of storage and a separate floor which the gallery rented out as art studio, to select featured artists. The top floor was where the owners Mulls and Kinney had their offices, as well as a conference room the size of a ballroom. Kinney was hardly ever in New York, but Mulls liked throwing his weight around.

"Why am I…-" Duo wondered in the tight space.

"He's going to want to know why the gallery looks like a mess and why I haven't stepped in. I'm going to tell him that I was training you so you could take over more of my responsibilities."

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Heero strode out.

"Am I?" Duo wondered, falling in step behind him.

"No. Hence why you're coming with me, so you can apologize for your failure."

Duo step faltered as he struggled to contain his resentment for the other man.

The door to Mulls' office was open and the two of them walked in.

Duo was surprised to see not just Mulls, but Kinney too. Mulls was seated behind his desk, whilst Kinney had a glass of whiskey in her hand and looked out the window at Washington Square Park and the lit-up buildings surrounding it.

The two owners acknowledged the curator as he stood in the middle of the room. Duo was being completely ignored.

"You called," Heero started, with that deep, boring tone that made Duo want to punch him. "I think I know what this is about."

"I trust you do," said Kinney, finishing her drink before setting down her glass.

"I made a judgment error. It won't-"

To Duo, it was refreshing how Mulls silenced the curator with a simple raise of his hand.

"You cannot downplay the severity of your mistake, Heero. You will regret the consequences this has for you and the gallery."

"It's a minor-"

The Japanese man was silenced again, by Kinney this time. Duo stood by grinning.

"I'm sorry, Heero, but there is nothing we can do. We can't sit around waiting for the axe to fall. We have to get ahead of this and find a new curator for the gallery. If you have any loyalty to us at all, you will help us find your replacement."

Duo blanched and his grin contorted. Was Heero being fired? Did Duo really fuck up that badly? Who cares if the Dru clashes with the Margaret? Two bulky movers can have either of the marble sculptures moved over to a different wing by tomorrow. He dared to glance at Heero. The man was expressionless as always.

"Excuse me? My replacement?"

"We got a call from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services today, Heero. You're Visa is being revoked. You can't remain in our employment."

"That's absurd."

"You left the country during your reapplication. That's a violation grounds for immediate denial."

Duo frowned at his boss at hearing he left the country. Heero traveled often to meet with artists or visit galleries in Europe and Asia. But never unscheduled like this week and never without informing Mulls, so the owner could handle the things that Duo had been doing the past few days. And Heero was smarter than doing something that would cost him his Visa.

"And you didn't even tell us. You had your assistant run the gallery, for God's sake!" Mulls was getting heated. "I thought you took your work seriously, but you made the gallery look like a joke. The kid put the Dru in the same room as the _Margaret_." He chuckled but was clearly unamused.

'The kid' shrank were he stood and his stomach turned. He was on the cutting block too. They were going to fire Heero and then kick him out as well. Two years' worth of labor flashed before his eyes. All the coffees. All the insults. All the long nights. All the sleepless nights. All the humiliation. All for nothing. His heart was pounding. Never mind not being able to fulfil his dreams, he wasn't going to make rent at the end of the month!

"None of his mistakes are unfixable," Heero stated.

Mulls rose from his chair and pointed a finger at him. "But your mistake is."

Kinney explained: "You are being deported, Heero. You have to leave the country and your function for at least a year as you reapply."

Heero nodded along. "We'll hire an interim curator as my proxy and I'll stay on as consultant from abroad. I'll manage everything from Japan."

"No, Heero," said Mulls definitively. "It won't be like that. We need someone here."

"You'll never find anyone as good as me."

"We won't," the owner readily agreed. "But we have no choice."

"Actually…" Duo cleared his throat when it registered how meek and quiet his voice sounded.

Everyone looked at him like they had completely forgotten he was even there.

"It won't be a problem," he continued. He put his hands in his pockets, not to look casual but to surreptitiously wipe his sweaty palms. "I was going to do this… later. In private. But…" He turned to face Heero and hoped he didn't look as nauseous as he felt. Before his bravery would leave his body with the breath he had been holding, he took his hands out of his pockets again, grabbed hold of Heero's and knelt down in front of him. On one knee.

That was the first time he caught emotion on Heero's features. Surprised was an understatement. "What are you doing?" He hissed.

"Heero," he swallowed, "will you marry me?"


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope you like fast updates ;)**

**By the way: I know nothing of the legal construct for immigration into the USA, beyond a very quick, very shallow Google search and what the movie itself has said. But let's pretend what I'm saying works and let's pretend that a same-sex marriage would be given the same rights. Just go with it.**

* * *

_**Bona fide**_

_A GWCU fanfiction based on The Proposal (2009)_

* * *

_**PART TWO**_

"Are you admitting to fucking fraud right now?" Enmar asked.

"No, hold up." Nick physically inserted himself between Enmar and Duo. "The real question is: it was _your_ goddamn idea?"

"I was going to get fired!"

"That's better than going to jail."

"Shut up, Enmar," bit Nick. "What are you doing, man?" He asked Duo. "Why would you risk jail for a job you hate and a guy you hate even more?"

Duo looked off to the side and shrugged. "Because… Because now he owes me," he stated and he felt a determination arise. "Now the most respected art curator on the East coast owes me. My work is going up on those walls. And any wall in Manhattan that I fancy."

"Is that really how you want to do this? Isn't that a cheap way to reach your dreams?"

"No, I've earned this!" Duo argued, although the remark didn't leave him unaffected. He pushed past his friends before they could say any more that would cause him to doubt his newfound resolve. "I have to go to work."

With long strides he distanced himself from them and headed for the gallery. A few steps removed from the front door, he fished the keys out of his pocket and then he let himself in. The building was unlit and quiet, but he knew he would find Heero already upstairs in his office. The man was the first in and the last out, every day. Honestly, it irked him a little thinking back to how Mulls had questioned the man's loyalty to the gallery the previous night. Heero was an asshole, but everything he did was in service of the gallery.

Duo took the stairs up to the office and sure enough the lights in a single space were on. He knocked softly on the glass door that was ajar and let himself in.

Heero didn't look up from the screen, or say good morning.

The assistant placed the coffee in front of him, noticing the paperwork on the desk like it was any other day at work. Normally, Duo would wordlessly excuse himself and go to his little desk just outside Heero's office, but now he sat down across from the man, crossed his legs and intertwined his fingers in his lap. He waited patiently for the curator to acknowledge him.

It took a full minute before the Japanese man peeled his gaze away from the computer and looked at Duo. He didn't say anything. He reached for his coffee and took a sip. "It's lukewarm, at best."

Recounting all of yesterday for his friends had caused a bit of a delay. "Let's be honest, it's frigid. Like you." He could have sworn he saw some twinkle of amusement in the blue eyes before they narrowed at him.

"You put on your big boy pants this morning."

"Well, I'm pretty sure you're not going to fire me now. Since I'm saving your ass."

Heero put the coffee down and folded his hands on top of his desk. Duo rarely got Heero's undivided attention and whenever he did, it was always intimidating. This time was no exception. "What do you want, Duo?"

"I googled the penalty for marriage fraud last night. It's up to five years in prison and two hundred thousand dollars in fines."

"So you've changed your mind."

He shook his head. "So the rewards should be in proportion to the risk."

"I was right. You do want something."

Duo straightened up in his seat. "I'll marry you. We convinced Mulls and Kinney, I'll help you convince the USCIS and everyone else. When your Green Card is secured, we'll file for divorce. I'll sign whatever pre-nup you want ahead. In return, for the duration of our marriage, I will not be your assistant; I get to use the studio upstairs and you'll feature me as an artist at the gallery. You will also use your connections to get me the exposure I need to get my work out there."

Heero snorted. "You want to completely discredit my reputation and be known yourself as the kind of artist who sleeps his way to the top?"

"I'll help you convince the USCIS that our marriage is real," Duo reiterated, "and you'll convince the critics that you fell in love with my work before you fell in love with me."

"But I don't love you. Nor your work."

It was a direct stab in Duo's heart. Heero had never said anything about his art, this was the first feedback he had gotten and it stung. He hated Heero, but he could not deny that his opinion had value in the world of art. "And I don't love you. Nobody has to know the truth."

Heero stared into him uncomfortably long. Finally, he said: "Okay. I agree to your terms."

Duo thought he would be relieved. After all, he was going to get everything he wanted. Yet, he felt a tension in his stomach, building like a crescendo. And he had no idea when it would finally stop and he could feel at peace again.

* * *

Of course Mulls had a lawyer on retainer for the gallery, who could get them a meeting with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service on short notice, namely: the very next Monday. It was merely to officially apply for the marriage Green Card, so neither of them thought much of it. Duo and Heero spent the weekend working; fixing the 'blunders' Duo had made. Duo thought he could get out of working the weekend by reminding Heero of their agreement: that he would not work as his assistant anymore. But Heero had him beat by pointing out that he negotiated not to work as his assistant during their _marriage_ and, until then, the terms did not apply.

It seemed like nothing had changed, so it was easy to forget that, in fact, everything had changed.

That Monday morning, at what was supposed to be an innocuous filling out of forms at the Immigrations office, they ended up sitting shoulder to shoulder in a crammed office, waiting for a USCIS Officer Chang to come see them.

"Something's wrong," Duo whispered and he nervously looked around himself. He shifted in his seat restlessly. The chair creaked.

Heero glared at him. "Please, by all means, act more incriminating."

Duo stared and then – since his brain didn't supply a witty retort – he stuck his tongue out at him.

The Japanese man rolled his eyes and looked up ahead at the name sign on the front of the desk. A polished plate of metal, a beacon amidst a sea of clutter. Stacks of papers were like tall waves about to crash. "I am marrying a child," he muttered to himself.

Duo frowned. "Wait. How old are you?" He snapped his mouth shut when the door suddenly burst open and a handsome Asian man returned to his office, carrying even more papers.

"Did I keep you waiting long?" He asked. His black eyes never met them as he searched for an empty space to put down the paperwork.

"Oh, no. No need to apologize."

Suddenly, Chang looked at Duo sharply. "I wasn't going to."

Oh God, it's like Heero's brother from another mother, Duo thought to himself.

Chang decided to settle one stack on top of another. Now that his hands were free, WuFei Chang shook their hands to formally exchange introductions. Then he seated himself behind his desk and he wiggled his mouse to awaken his computer. "You are getting married."

"Yes," the two answered in unison.

"Cute." He mimicked a smile for them. "Tell me, Mister… uh… Mister Maxwell… do you think you'd do well in prison?"

Duo swallowed and resisted the urge to readjust in his chair. "No, not particularly."

"Agreed." This time, it was Chang and Yuy who spoke as one.

Chang continued: "Then why are you committing fraud?"

"I'm not."

"So, you expect me to believe that in _one_ week, we constituted that your boss violated his Visa reapplication, hence we denied his application and called his employer to inform him of this termination, and you proposed? Or… I'm sorry… Maybe you proposed?" He looked at Heero. "I don't mean to assume. Although that would seem very desperate."

"I proposed," Duo stated and it was a bit of a relief that he could at least say something that was the truth while under such scrutiny. "And you've made us very desperate. We weren't going to rush the wedding, but you leave us little choice."

"Yes, rush indeed. If you don't marry within thirty days of when his Visa application was denied, your boss is going to have the leave the country for the time being anyway."

"Fiancé," Duo corrected him.

WuFei smirked. "Right. But that rush shouldn't be too much of a problem, correct? I mean, if this engagement is _bona fide_, as we call it here, surely you've already given some thought to how and where? And what about the guest list? Who's coming?" He bombarded them with questions to try and throw them off; try to bait them into blurting contradictory answers.

Heero could always be trusted to keep his cool and Duo, surprisingly, managed as well.

"Have you told your families the happy news?"

A crack in Duo's armor appeared and he could tell WuFei was aware of it. Duo hadn't even considered that his family would get involved in this and the thought of taking the scam to that level made him feel sick.

Realizing his partner in crime was down for the count, Heero stepped up. "We are going to tell his family this weekend. It was always supposed to be a surprise."

"Okay." WuFei made a note. "And what about your family? Going to surprise them too?"

"I don't have any family," Heero said.

Duo looked at him, hoping he was successful at masking his surprise at the monotonous statement.

"No family at all?" WuFei questioned.

"My last remaining relative passed away last week. It was the reason for my unplanned trip to Japan."

Surprise blended into sympathy, until the thought occurred to him that Heero might be lying. To save himself from having to humiliate himself in front of his family with this scam wedding, like Duo would now have to.

"My condolences."

"Thank you."

"It doesn't change the situation with regards to your Visa."

"I'm well aware. But we are not here to plead for my Visa application. We're here for our marriage and my Green Card. We were told we only had to come in to fill out some forms at this point in the process. So if you don't mind, I have an appointment," Heero said coolly.

"Fine. Yeah, we're done for now," WuFei conceded and he handed them some forms. "You can fill out these. Your marriage license and Green Card application, and hand them in at the desk. My assistant – a lovely lady whom I will not be marrying-"

Duo glowered.

"- will call you with a date and time for your interview. And I suggest you don't schedule any appointments after that." He shook both their hands as a formality and concluded: "Because after that interview, you will be on the first flight back to Japan and you… will go to prison." He finished with a self-pleased grin and politely showed them the door.

Duo hoped the blood didn't drain from his face quickly enough for WuFei to see how pale he got. He followed Heero outside. They filled out the forms, handed them in as instructed and then Duo rushed to get out of the building, as it felt like the walls were closing in on him.

Out on the street, he sucked in deep breaths of air. Manhattan air was far from fresh, but it beat the stifling atmosphere in that office.

"This really isn't the time or place to freak out," Heero said, standing by, completely unconcerned.

"Was that true? What you said about your family? Or are you just trying to get out of the circus I'm going to have to go through with my family now?"

Heero held his gaze for a moment. One eyebrow tensed up with the mere suggestion of a frown. "Yes, it's true. Why do you think I'd lie about that? Don't you think that is one of the first things he is going to look into?"

Duo took another deep breath and nodded. "Okay… Sorry."

Heero's lips were nothing but a taut line. He glared at Duo for a moment before deciding they should hail a taxi and get back to the gallery.

"Who died?" Duo asked, before Heero could make it to the curb. His question was barely audible over the noise of traffic and pedestrians, but Heero had heard him and he tensed up.

"My grandfather," he said over his shoulder and then took one more step and raised his hand to draw the attention of a taxi crawling their way.

"Were you two close?"

The Japanese man looked at him with clear reluctance to be forthcoming.

"You might as well tell me now. We have to know as much as possible about each other by the time we have that interview."

Heero nodded. "He raised me. After my parents died when I was ten."

There it was again, sympathy. _Sympathy for the devil_. There was also guilt for having doubted his integrity before. "I'm sorry."

"Hn."

The taxi came to a halt and Heero got in without a word.

"Could you scoot?" Duo asked, but the man shut the door on him. Grumbling, he walked around the car, mindful of the traffic. A bike messenger zooming by nearly clipped him as he was about to climb into the vehicle. Once he was seated, the car rolled away from the curb.

Duo waited three blocks before he gave into his curiosity. "So… How old are you?"

"I'm thirty-three."

"No shit." He thought for a moment. That was older than he expected, but seven years his senior wasn't so bad that it would be unbelievable. Not at all. In fact, his mom was seven years older than his dad. That was an odd coincidence and the realization grounded him. Duo looked out the window and chewed on his bottom lip. His parents. He was going to have to introduce Heero to them as his fiancé, when his entire family only knew Heero as his asshole boss. "Aren't you going to ask how old I am?"

"I know how old you are. You are my employee."

Duo wagged his finger at him. "Nono. None of that shit. I'm your fiancé." He caught the cabbie looking at them in the rear view mirror and glared at the nosy man until he redirected his judgmental look elsewhere. "So I guess I should book a flight for us, huh? Can I use your credit card and get us first class?"

"Where, exactly, would we be flying off to? You are not getting a honeymoon out of this."

The American twisted in his seat to face his boss. "I'm not going to tell my parents over the phone."

Heero only slightly cocked his head to look at him from the corner of his eyes. "Are we talking about the same thing?"

"You told that asshat we are going to tell my parents this week. So we should get out there and tell them."

"_Out there_? I thought you said they live in Manhattan."

"No. My family is in Montana."

"You're from Montana?" He questioned, turning fully and emoting some semblance of confusion.

"Maybe if you bothered to ever actually listen when I speak... _Montana_," Duo over-enunciated.

"We have to go to Montana?"

"Yeah," he said. Duh.

"Do they even know you're gay?"

Duo sat back in the seat and fidgeted. "They have a theoretical understanding of it."

"What does that mean?"

"It means-…" He thought for a moment. "It means I came out before I left for college and… it never came up again. I don't go home that often. My boss doesn't give me any time off," he said glibly.

"Your boss didn't know you couldn't just see your family in _Manhattan_ every weekend."

"My boss would know if he listened. And cared."

Heero sighed and Duo caught the cabbie sneaking looks at them again.

Everyone was quiet for the next ten blocks, as the car crawled through the morning traffic, back to the gallery down town. Duo was jostled out of his thoughtful trance when he felt something prod his elbow. He looked over and noticed Heero holding his black credit card out to him. He awkwardly accepted it.

"Business class," Heero instructed without regarding him. "Clear my schedule for the end of the week. We'll fly out on Wednesday and get back Saturday morning. We can't miss the fundraiser on Sunday."

"Okay," he said weakly, feeling sick with dread already.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Bona fide**_

_A GWCU fanfiction based on The Proposal (2009)_

* * *

_**PART THREE**_

Nick and Enmar let their coffees go cold as they trailed Duo through the park. "You're flying out to your parents to tell them you're marrying this asshole?"

"Well, we have to make it look real for Immigration. They won't just be interviewing us, but calling our families – my family – as well. It won't bode well if my mom answers the call and says: 'Heero Yuy? The devil-wears-prada, you mean?'. I have no choice."

"You do have a choice," Enmar said. "If you go meet with that USCIS guy before things get too far, you can still get out of this."

"I've been this guy's slave for over two years, En. It's time I got something out of it. We'll only have to be married for a couple of years, by the end of which I will have gotten my chance to have my work displayed in the best galleries in New York. It's my shot at getting my art out there and finding out if it's been worth pouring my life into it. If I don't do this, I'll spend ten more years fetching coffees or waiting tables, wasting time chasing a dream that I might not have the stamina nor even the talent to fulfill."

"Duo, you're a great artist," Nick said in a hushed tone, meaning to calm him down. "You would have gotten your work on the wall some other way, someday."

"And have you thought about what else there is to life?" The other chimed in. "You're going to have to lie to your family for years. You can't date, because you'll be _married_. And you are going to be living with a man you despise."

Right. That was something he hadn't actually given any thought: their living arrangements after the wedding. It would certainly be suspicious to the USCIS if Duo stayed in his hole-in-the-wall studio in Brooklyn, rather than moving into Heero's loft on the Upper West Side with a view of the Hudson. There were a lot of things the two of them hadn't figured out yet, because Heero – completely in line with his personality – refused to give Duo the time of day to talk with him.

"Stop it. Stop it!" He looked at them with pleading eyes. "I'm doing this. Maybe it's the wrong choice, but it's the choice I'm making. I'd like it if my friends would try to support me."

The two shared a look and then their features softened in resignation. "Okay, Duo. We'll stop questioning this."

"But you don't get to play My-Boss-is-the-Most-Horrible-Person-in-the-World anymore."

Duo smiled. "Okay. Deal."

The three of them parted ways as they all had work to get to.

Duo went into the gallery, brought Heero his coffee as usual and was ignored as usual, and then sat at his desk to get some work done. They would be gone for a couple of days, so he had to make sure everything was in order. Just because his job had been as much of a sham as this marriage would be, didn't mean he'd be slacking off. This was the home-stretch and he could last until the end.

Heero spent most of the day on the phone with an artist from Madrid, who he was trying to convince to have his art on display in the gallery. The one-sided conversation in Spanish drifted out the door and Duo listened in with half an ear. The only time there was ever any passion to be detected in Heero's tone of voice, was when the man talked about art. Even when Duo didn't understand a word of what was being said, he could tell the curator really liked this artist's work. A greedy part of him wished Heero would like his work too. He hated the man, but it would be a meaningful validation of his talent. But Heero didn't really appreciated digital art and the gallery had always been biased against it because of the curator's personal preferences. Heero liked texture, which was why much of the collection was thickly layered acrylic paintings and sculptures with an unfinished quality to them. The neon light installation was one of few exceptions.

Duo fell in love with the digital medium because it allowed an artist every liberty to take risk. A blank canvas was always intimidating to him, because while a mistake could be covered up, it would, in essence, be permanent, just unseen. He didn't like knowing that his art would have a layer of mistakes underneath. On his computer he could work freely. It allowed him to be bold and fearless. He recognized that bravery and freedom in other digital works as well.

It was midday when Gisele came to find him for lunch. He saw her coming his way from across the hall and frowned at the odd look in her eyes.

She plastered herself against the low partition that offered his workspace some measure of privacy and she blurted: "I just heard through the grapevine that you and the Wicked Witch of the West are flying to Montana tonight."

He tensed up. The idea of his coworkers thinking he was in a relationship with the boss irked him, but he knew it was something he had to face sooner or later. He tried to keep his inflection neutral. "Yeah, we're going to see my parents."

"_Why?_" Obviously she had just figured they would be recruiting some new amazing artist for the gallery – although she should have known the curator never brought his assistant along for those trips.

"We're-" He swallowed. "We're going to tell them we're getting married."

Gisele laughed heartedly and a Spanish sentence was cut off midway.

Heero purposefully walked around his desk and closed the glass door while glaring at the two of them. He continued with: "Lo siento…"

"Come one, seriously."

"I am being serious."

She was frozen for a moment, trying to work out if she was missing a joke in his flat tone of voice. "You're not kidding," she concluded.

"No."

"But… You hate him. You two go together about as well as boiled eggs and Greek yoghurt."

That was certainly more descriptive than he needed, leaving a weird taste in his mouth. "He's… quite… nice, once you get to know him." He could barely get the lie out.

"Yeah? And when did that happen? Because just two weeks ago you called him Satan."

He paused and quietly ransacked his brain for an explanation she – and everyone else - would accept. "I was keeping up pretenses because… the timing is a little unfortunate. You see, we've been dating for a couple of months and I wanted to tell you, but then he said he was going to exhibit my work at the gallery and I didn't want anyone to think I was just sleeping with the boss to get my art on the wall."

She chuckled. "We're going to think that anyway."

"Well, it's not true. But, anyway, we're getting married now, so there's no point in trying to keep it quiet any longer."

"Who proposed?"

"I did."

"Before or after he told you he was giving you a show?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Bye, Gisele."

"Aren't we going to get lunch?"

"I'm not hungry anymore." He looked down at Heero's schedule for the week. He still had to plan a couple of the appointments that were canceled in favor of their engagement-announcement in Montana.

She kept standing there for a little longer, perhaps trying to decided what she wanted to say, if anything at all; if she wanted to apologize and still be his friend, or if she still didn't believe he wasn't just sleeping with the boss for fame. In the end, she said nothing and walked away.

Duo found it hard to focus on his work after that. His friends were being weird. His coworkers were being weird. And soon his family would be weird to him too. He had to keep reminding himself that it would be worth it in the end.

Near the end of the workday he shut off his computer and grabbed the small suitcase that had been under his desk all day. He approached the glass door with caution. He peered at Heero, squinting at the Mac screen. He'd been quiet for over an hour. Duo softly knocked on the door with just his index finger and then let himself in.

"We have to leave for the airport."

Heero's gaze shifted to the corner of the screen to confirm the time. "You should have come to get me half an hour ago. I don't like cutting it this close."

Duo ignored the snide tone to the best of his abilities and watched the curator neatly fold up and stack some print-outs on his desk and boot down his computer and slip his thin laptop into his briefcase.

The car service would be pulling up downstairs any minute, with Heero's luggage in the trunk.

The two of them went down to the entry where a driver in a black suit with a black umbrella met them. The driver guided Heero to the car, keeping him dry in the pouring rain. Duo got soaked in just the few yards from the front steps to the car, pausing to put his suitcase in the trunk himself, while the driver was dutifully holding the door open for the other man as he got in, and even shutting it for him too.

Wet and already cold, Duo rolled into the backseat on the right side, right as the driver was getting behind the wheel.

"We should probably hash some things out during the flight," Duo said as they drove to the airport. "I found a list of interview questions online." He produced his phone from his pocket to look up the questionnaire. "There's a lot of stuff we need to figure out and my parents need to know some of these things too, so they'll have the same answers as we do when Chang calls them."

"Fine. We'll talk on the plane," Heero said and then asked the driver to turn the music up. Delicate piano notes of classical music filled the vehicle.

Duo bit his tongue and wisely kept quiet.

The experience at the airport was the most relaxed and fluid he had ever had. Someone came to carry their luggage for them and walked them to the gate. They were allowed to board before anyone else. The staff knew Heero's name and served him a glass of 'his favorite scotch' as soon as they sat down in the preposterously large seats. The flight attendant put their carry-on luggage in the overhead compartments for them. Heero had two suitcases as well as his leather briefcase with him, but no one ever gave him any grief about that.

"Thank you for flying with us again, Sir," said the flight attendant before leaving them alone and guiding the next passengers to their seats.

"Maybe if you weren't such a frequent flyer, we wouldn't be in this predicament at all," Duo remarked bitterly.

"If I hadn't screwed up my Visa reapplication, you would be getting my coffees every day of the week until you'd finally have the balls to quit. Rather than getting your work featured in the gallery. So you can stop pretending that this is all just one huge inconvenience for you."

_Touché_.

Duo was happy he had the window seat, so he didn't feel like arguing. He didn't fly much and the view out the little window always thrilled him. He especially liked that they would be taking off around sunset, and landing in Billings, Montana at night would be a nice display of lights too. Many of his works were actually inspired by city lights and urban skylines. He wondered if Heero realized that, when he barely looked at his art when he showed it to him during his 'interview'.

The plane took off only a few minutes behind schedule and they were served a surprisingly qualitative dinner – if a small portion - as soon as they were at cruising altitude. Duo ordered champagne to go with it.

After dessert, he pulled out his phone again. He looked sideways at Heero and prodded the man when he saw he had his eyes closed.

If looks could kill, the flight attendant would frantically be asking if there was a doctor on board, right about now.

"The questions. Remember?"

"I do."

"Hehe, 'I do'." He chuckled but Heero was unamused. "Right. We have our work cut out for us. Of course there was no complete, leaked interview, but I gathered as much as I could from blogs and stuff, and some of these questions we really need to study for."

"Lucky for us that we have a seven hour flight with lay-over ahead of us," Heero bit sarcastically.

"We can't make any mistakes, Heero. The deck is already stacked against us with you being older than me, not to mention my boss. Thankfully an advantage to our working relationship is that I actually do know a couple of things about you from managing your calendar. I also have two years' worth of text messages from you saying shit like 'I need you', 'come over now' and 'don't even think of going home tonight'." He said mockingly.

"What's that voice?"

Duo raised his eyebrows innocently. "What? Huh?"

"That voice you just did. That accent. Was that supposed to be me?"

He just grinned.

"And what things do you presume to know about me?" He sounded perturbed.

"We'll get to that." Duo scrolled through the list of questions on his phone. "I guess we'll start at the beginning. We can just tell the true story of how we met. But then when do we say the relationship became romantic?"

"A year ago?"

He shook his head. "Uhm, can't. I… uh… I was seeing someone. If they dig that up…"

"When did that end?"

"December."

Heero did some math in his head. "Okay, let's say you needed a couple of months to grieve and we started dating six months ago."

"Should we make notes, you think?"

"It'll stick." Heero was as unconcerned as he always seemed to be. "Horror stories usually do…" he muttered.

"Okay. So… how did it happen?" It was uncomfortable making eye-contact.

"Is that a question on the list?" Heero countered, already irked with this homework.

"One of the questions is 'who initiated the relationship?' Another is: 'Where did you go for your first date?'"

"I initiated it. And I took you to Nine," he decided.

"Hold on, why do you get to be one who initiated it? You can't just call dibs like that."

"I'm the older one between us and I'm the one who has been sending all these terribly demanding texts all this time," he snipped.

Duo let out a snort. "As if Chang is ever going to believe you are the top in the relationship."

Heero straightened in the chair, causing the leather to wring. "Excuse me?"

"I mean… come on…" He stared at his phone screen very intently so he wouldn't accidently look Heero in the eyes. He was certain it would turn him to stone.

"Says the guy with the three foot braid."

"Three feet is also approximately how much taller I am than you," he exaggerated for comedic effect. In reality, the difference was only a few inches.

"Fine, if it better accommodates your fragile masculinity, you can say you were the one who initiated it."

"Cool." He flashed a smirk at having gotten his way.

"So where did you take me for our date? You can't even afford an appetizer at Nine."

"No, not on the salary you pay me…"

They both crossed their arms in front of their chest in frustration and remained silent for a moment.

Duo knew they had to keep going. Yes, it was a long flight, but they had an entire romantic history to figure out. And those awkward silences weren't exactly making time fly by anyway. "I took you to the Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and then made dinner for you at my place."

"I'm pretty sure that's racist."

"I'm pretty sure it's romantic and a respectful recognition of your heritage," he said smartly.

"I'm pretty sure the _white_ man doesn't get to make that call. Can you even cook?"

"I'm an excellent cook."

"What do you propose you made me? Chang will ask."

Duo made a face. He deadpanned: "Chicken. And I secretly undercooked yours."

"Next question."

Duo was pleased with himself until his glanced down at his list. He hesitated before reading aloud: "When did we have your first kiss?"

"I'm guessing in April under a bunch of cherry blossom," his boss groused.

"I don't kiss during the first date," Duo stated matter-of-factly. "Only a kiss goodnight at the end."

The other man sighed and leaned his head back. "Then that's what happened."

"Great. I think it's going pretty well." He scanned more questions. "We've already established that I proposed. Let's just say I did it kind of impromptu. But it was romantic in a spontaneous kind of way. Working late at the gallery, or something. Sharing take-out… Huh. This is making me hungry."

"You know what, Duo? Why don't you just type all of this shit up and give me a copy to learn by heart? You take the lead at your parents' place and I'll just play along. The particulars really don't matter to me."

Duo thought for a second and then readily agreed. "I can take care of the relationship bit. But there is still the part of the interview where they test how well we know each other. I can make up a story about our relationship, but with everything else we have to be as truthful as possible. Because that's easier to remember than a bunch of lies. And we already have plenty of lies we need to memorize."

Heero just stared.

"So, tell me something true," he prompted and then he waited.

"Let me look at the questions."

Duo thought of arguing, since the interview would probably go beyond the scope of the couple of questions he could find online, but it would be a good place to start and he figured this was how they could get the ball rolling. So he handed over his phone.

Heero took a minute to study the list. His mouth became tighter and tighter as he scrolled down. "You already know how I drink my coffee. You know I don't have any family. And you've been to my loft often enough to be able to tell where it is and what it looks like…" he said as those questions in particular caught his eyes.

"Yeah… tell me something I don't know."

He sighed and without looking up from the phone, he started: "My birthday is January second. I was born in Kyoto, went to university in Tokyo and studied at Cambridge for a year."

Actually, he also already knew that, but he didn't interrupt.

"I have your number saved on my phone under 'Darren', because as your employer I know that is your actual first name. My best friend's name is Samuel. I'm not religious. My favorite cuisine is Greek. I don't have a favorite TV show, because I don't watch television. My previous romantic relationship was with a man named Odin, who was almost twenty years older than me. I…" He paused at the next question but managed to continue with the same flat, unfazed tone: "I lost my virginity when I was nineteen. To a girl."

Duo caught himself smirking.

"And my favorite guilty pleasure song is 'Play that funky music', by Wild Cherry." He handed the phone back to his assistant, not reacting to Duo's incredulous stare.

"As in: play that funky music, white boy?"

"Yes."

Heero had never given Duo a reason to smile, but he was smiling from ear to ear. "That's… unexpected… I have to admit that I never thought of you as someone capable of surprising me."

"What about you? Are you going to surprise me?"

"Billy Joel's 'Tell her about it'," the American readily admitted, perhaps defeating the purpose of a _guilty_ pleasure. He went through the questions in reverse order, scrolling up when Heero had been scrolling down. He noticed Heero had skipped some questions and he only answered the ones the other had as well. "I lost my virginity at sixteen. It was only a blowjob, but I think that counts. It was with a boy. My previous romantic relationship was with a man named Aaron. We don't talk anymore. I don't have much time to watch TV, but I enjoy watching old sitcoms on Netflix. I'm _all_ about Italian food. I was raised Catholic but while I do believe there is something, I also believe there is no way for us to ever know what it is until… we get there." He chuckled. "My best friends are named Nick and Enmar. And… uh… I have you saved in my phone under 'Miserable Fucktwit', because as your employee… I know you are." He wished he could read something on Heero's face, but the man was impassive as ever.

All the Japanese man said, in response to his last answer was: "You should probably change that before the interview."

He let out a laugh at the dry remark. "Yeah, I probably should. How do you like 'Pumpkin'?"

"I think I like being deported better."

"Fine, fine. I'll think of something."

They continued sharing details of their lives and fleshing out their fictional romance for another two hours, as long as Duo could keep Heero motivated. Every minute of it was like pulling teeth, but each little fact he learned about the other man humanized him a small way and that might make this charade easier to sell. Then the Japanese man announced that they should try to get some rest and he left no room for argument. They each listened to their own music for a while and eventually Heero asked a flight attendant for a pillow and blanket and he shut off his overhead reading light. Duo decided he should try to get some sleep as well.

Most of the plane was dark. It was peaceful in business class. Behind the curtain Duo could hear some faint mumbling, coughing and sniffling. The chair reclined back until it was practically flat. It was comfortable, but he didn't expect to get any sleep.

Yet by the time Duo woke up, the lights of his home state were visible through the window and the flight attendant announced that they would be landing at Billings Logan international airport in ten minutes. Duo had never been so scared during a landing, even though the entire process was perfectly smooth and the plane barely bounced as it touched down.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Bona fide**_

_A GWCU fanfiction based on The Proposal (2009)_

* * *

_**PART FOUR**_

The car service that Duo had arranged would take them to his parental home. By the time they pulled into the street where he grew up, it was three AM. He still had a key, but he knew his parents would have set an alarm to welcome him. They had both retired early and were aware that he 'and someone special' were coming and they had insisted that they stay in the guest bedroom, not in a hotel.

The street was exactly as he remembered. They really didn't have that much money growing up, but his father's local business did pretty well and there wasn't exactly a shortage of space in Montana, so the prices of real-estate were a joke compared to Manhattan. Home was a large two story house, nestled at the top of a slight incline, with a large lawn and long driveway out front and forest out back. The paneling was freshly painted white. Large windows overlooked the friendly neighborhood. The door was a sea green, a color his mother had decided was most welcoming. The porchlight was on. His dad's truck was in the driveway because they still kept Duo's old pick-up in the garage.

Everything was exactly the way he remembered it, except for that hand drawn 'Welcome home' sign in the front lawn.

He got out of the car apprehensively.

The driver got the luggage out of the trunk and put the suitcases on the sidewalk, then promptly left.

"Are you just going to stand there?"

Heero's remark pulled him out of the nostalgic moment. He grabbed his one suitcase and walked up the pathway to the front door. Behind him he heard Heero moan about the younger man not helping him with his suitcases.

Before he reached the door, it opened and his mother appeared. And she looked absolutely… huggable, in pajamas and a robe.

She didn't say anything. The petite woman took larger than life strides to close the distance between them and she did exactly what he had wanted her to do. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, swaying him ever so slightly.

"Mom." He pressed his nose into the crook of her shoulder and smelled her perfume and the fabric softener in her clothes. He felt her stroke a hand through his hair. He hadn't been back home in nearly three years and he hadn't even realized how much he had missed her until that moment. He resented himself for having come home now, for the sole purpose of lying to this kind woman and his father as well. "I've missed you."

She pulled back and cupped his face. "I've missed you too, sweetheart."

The grating sound of Heero's suitcases dragging along the pathway quieted, mere steps behind Duo.

The artist bit his lip, knowing it was time to bite the bullet. He had never brought a boyfriend home, those few holidays that he returned for after college. It was wrong on so many levels that Heero was the man his parents would meet. He also had no idea how they would react.

His mother let go of him and looked at the Japanese man standing a little further back. Her smile never wavered.

"Mom, this…" He gestured at his boss. "This is Heero."

She recognized the name instantly, from long phone calls during which Duo complained about his awful boss. She was certainly confused, but no less welcoming when she approached him. It was clear she was moving in for a hug, but Heero extended his hand out in front of him, preventing her from getting too close. They awkwardly shook hands. "Heero, I've heard a lot about you." She looked over her shoulder at her son and winked at him.

"Mom," he warned, but he couldn't help but chuckle bemusedly. It surprised him how well the middle-aged, registered Republican, catholic, white woman was handling the situation of him bringing home a same-sex immigrant as his boyfriend.

"Come inside, it's freezing and you must be exhausted. The guest bedroom is all ready for you."

"Mom, you really didn't have to go through any trouble. We could have stayed in a hotel." The one hotel they had in town.

"Nonsense. Family doesn't stay in a hotel. I have to take good care of my boys," she said dotingly. Then she linked her arm with Heero's, oblivious to how tense the closeness made him, and she walked him into the house, instructing Duo to take care of the luggage.

He tucked his own suitcase under one arm, Heero's briefcase under the other and dragged Heero's twin suitcases into the house by the handles. In the hallway, he was met with his father, who emerged from the downstairs bedroom in striped pajamas with a striped robe on top. The older, taller man pulled his son into an embrace and clapped him hard on the back a couple of times before letting go.

There they stood, the four of them, in the hallway. With pictures on the walls of Duo growing up in that very house. He became aware that his father was looking at him expectantly.

Duo cleared his throat. "Dad, this is Heero."

The man's white eyebrows raised high, surprised by the familiar name, but he said nothing. He slowly stretched his hand out to shake Heero's.

"Heero, these are my parents, Norman and Cecilia."

"Call me C.C.," she was quick to say.

Heero nodded in greeting.

After the shortest exchange of formalities, it was agreed upon that they should all get some sleep for the rest of the night. Duo's father shuffled back to the bedroom down the hall and his mother guided the two men upstairs. They walked past Duo's childhood bedroom, to the large guest bedroom with en suite bathroom.

C.C. flicked on the lights and stepped aside to let them through the doorway.

Duo could tell she had spent time preparing the bedroom for them. The bed was tightly made with sheets that smelled brand new – the scent filled the room. There was a second lounge chair under the window overlooking the back yard, that he recognized from his father's downstairs den. There were two bouquets of fresh flowers and a copper plate of assorted, unlit candles – if they wanted to 'set the mood'.

It was as endearing as it was unsettling.

What had his stomach twist was the sight of one of his old paintings hanging over the headboard of the bed. He knew his old works were on display throughout the house, courtesy of his mother's blind admiration, but to have it right there where Heero would sleep, where he would see it every time they came in here, felt like an odd invasion of his own privacy; like he was vulnerable and exposed. Suddenly, it was all too personal. Too wrong.

The vibrant colors drew attention in the otherwise calmly neutral space. He just hoped Heero wouldn't recognize it as his work. It was from ages ago, after all. He had made it as an assignment in college.

"You boys get settled in. I'll wake you in the morning, when breakfast is ready." C.C. said sweetly, her gaze lingering on her son, and then she excused herself and closed the door behind her ever so softly.

Duo thought to release the suitcases he had been carrying and he let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hand through his hair.

"We're not sharing a bed."

The American turned around and cocked his head at his boss. "Seriously? That's what you're worried about right now? Didn't you hear what she said? You're _family_ now, for fuck sake."

Heero just blinked at him.

He scoffed. "That might mean shit to you, but that means something here." He gestured around himself wildly. "She doesn't even know you and already you're one of her 'boys'. Fuck. Fuck!"

"Calm down," Heero hissed.

But he couldn't. He started pacing. "This is going to kill them. It's going to kill them when they find out."

"Then they better not find out, so keep your voice down."

Duo stilled and eventually nodded. He wiped his sweaty palms on the front of his shirt. He looked around the room again and his eyes settled on the bed. Yeah, they were definitely not going to share that queen. Decisively he pulled extra sheets from the closet and stole a pillow from the bed. "I'll sleep on the floor. I'm younger, after all."

Heero's jaw clenched at the poorly veiled insult, but he wasn't about to object to the solution.

"Let's get changed and try to get some sleep."

"I have to unpack first."

Duo quirked an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"I'm not living out of a suitcase."

"It's just two days!"

Heero steeled his gaze. "I'm not living out of a suitcase." His tone dipped.

Duo raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. Whatever. I guess I'll get dressed in the bathroom." He unzipped his suitcase and plucked out his toiletries, a fresh pair of underwear, sweatpants and a shirt and headed for the privacy of the en suite. Being away from Heero, even if it was only one door that separated them, was a relief. So he took his time getting ready for bed, even though he was deathly tired in spite of the couple of hours of sleep he had gotten on the plane.

When he came out, Heero had finished unpacking and was seated on the edge of the bed, clutching clothes and a Luis Vuitton toiletry bag. Without a word he got up and claimed the bathroom for himself. A minute later, Duo heard the shower running and, as childish as it was, he felt a little uncomfortable knowing Heero was naked behind a door that didn't even have a lock.

"Okay, brain, don't get weird now," he said, but he wasn't talking to his _brain_.

His makeshift bed on the floor wasn't comfortable, but it would have to do. It was only for three – more like two and a half – nights anyway.

"Could you get the lights?"

Duo made a face at the request coming from behind the door. "No. I'm already on the floor. You get them on the way."

There was a long silence. "Don't look."

"Weren't you older than me? Stop acting like you're twelve and get out here."

Another long silence.

Duo stared up at the ceiling and waited. When the bathroom door finally opened, his curiosity was piqued and from the corner of his eyes he watched Heero tiptoe through the room, to the light switch by the other door. He was only wearing black boxer briefs and a long-sleeved silk nightshirt. When the long, golden legs registered in Duo's 'brain' he turned his head to watch unabashedly until Heero flicked the switch and the room went black. He listened to Heero carefully making his way to the bed and crawling under the sheets.

After a minute, Duo said with a grin: "No pajama bottoms, huh?"

"You said you wouldn't look," Heero scolded.

"Nah… nooo… I actually didn't say that." His grin widened.

"You're fired."

Duo chuckled. "That's fine. I wasn't going to be your assistant for much longer anyway, _lover_," he purred the last word.

"Go to sleep."

"Hmm, yes dear. Dreaming of you."

* * *

During the night he had rolled off his mattress of folded up sheets and lay on the carpet entangled in his blanket. There was an ache in his shoulders that spread to his neck and it made him feel old. He didn't know what had woken him up, because he could hardly open his eyes that was how tired he still was. But then he heard the voice of his mother behind the door.

"Boys? Are you up?"

Panicking at the thought that she might innocently let herself into the room, he leapt up from the floor, bundled the sheets in his arms and scurried over to the bed where Heero was just rolling over onto his back and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"May I come in?" She asked.

He tossed the excess sheets on the floor, out of sight, taking a moment to kick them under the bed, just to be sure. Then he slipped into the bed uninvited, making Heero reel back.

"Uhm, yeah… uhh… okay, you can come in, Mom." He hoped he didn't look as flustered as he felt.

The door opened and his mother popped her head in. She smiled at them both. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, fantastic. As long as we can snuggle, we're good," Duo forced himself to say.

"If you boys are hungry, breakfast is about ready. I didn't know what you'd be in the mood for, so I made everything I could think of."

"Thanks, mom. You really didn't have to." He cast a glance at Heero who lay as far away from him as the expanse of the bed allowed, with the sheets pulled up all the way to his chin. "We'll, uh… We'll be down in a couple of minutes."

"Okay. No rush." She backed out of the room and closed the door.

Duo scrubbed his face. "Oh God." At Heero's insistence he got out of bed as quickly as he had climbed into it. Heero wanted to get dressed, but Duo didn't bother and instead just threw on a hoodie and put on a pair of socks to keep his feet warm before heading downstairs.

The smells wafting from the kitchen lured him. He rounded the corner and paused in the archway to observe his mother shuttling food from the counter to the table in the breakfast nook. Omelets, croissants, French toast, fruit, yoghurt, cereal, scrambled eggs and bacon… She hadn't been exaggerating when she said 'everything'.

"Mom, you're insane," he said and then he intercepted her to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you, it _all_ smells delicious."

"Of course I made your favorite, but I didn't know what Heero likes."

Neither did Duo. "Anything would have been fine, mom."

"Oh, really?" She challenged with a smirk. "The way you talked about him over the phone made me think he is quite _particular_ in what he does and does not like."

Duo couldn't help but laugh at her euphemism for the way he regularly bitched about Heero, that he never did anything right according to his boss, no matter how hard he tried.

"Look at this feast!" Norman remarked as he filled the kitchen with his tall frame and demanding energy. "Whatever did we do to deserve it?"

"It's a special occasion," C.C. argued, playfully swatting at her husband.

"Speaking of special. Will Heero be joining us?" He made an act of looking around the room for comedic effect.

Duo nodded. "He'll be down in a minute."

"Well, he's a little older than you. Probably doesn't bounce out of bed as easily."

Duo wasn't sure if it was a harmless joke or something he should take offense at as Heero's fiancé. But he wasn't about to act like a knight in shining armor to find out if he needed to come to the defense of his 'love'. The three took a seat at the table by the bay window and thankfully didn't have to wait long for Heero to stride into the kitchen, dressed to the nines in black slacks and a silk, turtleneck shirt with small buttons down the spine. Not quite the kind of attire Duo would have recommended.

C.C. leaned in and said: "That's a beautiful shirt, dear."

"Yes, very unique."

When Duo caught his mom shooting his father a look for that remark, he knew there was definitely something going on under the surface. Of cource it couldn't be quite so easy as it had seemed last night…

Then she wordlessly poured everyone a tall glass of fresh orange juice and the moment was gone.

Of all the foods in front of him, Heero just served himself a modest bowl of yoghurt with some fruit and couldn't be convinced of eating anything else, in spite of Cecilia's best efforts.

Halfway through breakfast, Norman addressed the elephant in the room. Looking directly at Heero, he said: "We weren't expecting… _you_. I'm assuming there is only one 'Heero' in Duo's life and, frankly, we haven't heard many great things about this 'Heero'."

"He's a tough boss," Duo said. After all, they had agreed on the plane that Duo would take the lead. It was what he was most comfortable with. "I stand by everything I've said about him, as my _boss_. But there is another side to him. As my boyfriend, he is different. I love him." He reached out, with the intention of laying a hand on Heero's shoulder to sell the romance, but at the last second it felt too weird – too intimate - and he planted his hand on the back of the chair instead. This wasn't going well.

"Well, we're very glad that we get to meet him, as your boyfriend." His mother's smile was beaming, it burned a hole right through Duo's heart. "I hope you don't mind, but we've invited some friends and family over for tonight."

Duo's heart dropped into his stomach, making it difficult to swallow the bite of French toast he had been chewing. He didn't want to involve more people into this plot. Honestly, it would have been better if his parents rejected being introduced to his gay lover, at least then the extent of this lie would be limited. "Mom…-"

"Don't speak with your mouth full, dear," she lightly chastised. "Besides, I know what you're going to say. But everyone is excited to see you. It's been so long! And who knows when we are all going to get the chance again?"

Great, doubling down on the guilt trip. Now there was nothing he could do but consent to this 'small get-together'.

After breakfast, he went upstairs to shower and get dressed. Heero trailed after him, not wanting to be alone with Duo's parents.

He was busy toweling his hair dry, when he heard Heero's voice, coming from right outside the door. Making him self-conscious standing there butt-naked, bent over so his hair fell away from his body to properly rub it dry.

"When are you going to tell them?" Was Heero's question.

"… When the time is right."

"I don't have to tell you that there is never a right time to lie."

"Thank you for your wisdom," he bit. He jumped into a pair of jeans and a sweater. When he ripped the door open, he startled Heero, who had been standing right there. The two looked at each other. Too close for comfort. "I'll tell them. Okay? I'll find a way." He stepped around him and reached into his suitcase to rummage around for two matching socks.

"They're oddly accepting. For… Montanians." He was appropriately unsure of the term.

"_Montanans_."

"They're oddly accepting."

Duo sighed. It was a surprise to him too. He hadn't been expecting pitchforks either, but if not for the fact that it was all a scam, it was almost too easy. His mother was probably just so happy he was finally home again, she would have accepted anything. And his dad… well, after thirty years of marriage, his dad knew that whatever made his wife happy, would be good for him too. Those odd moments at breakfast he could brush off, so long as they didn't evolve into anything more uncomfortable.

"Why don't you come home more often?"

Duo straightened up, holding mismatched socks. He frowned at his boss. Why was he asking him that? Did he think it would come up during the interview? "My boss is such a dick that I never dared to ask for time off." It wasn't a lie, but not the entire truth either. He rarely flew out here even before starting his work as Heero's assistant, although he had plenty of opportunities and his parents always offered to fund the ticket if money was tight for him.

"You mean you were a coward."

He didn't respond to that. He sat on the edge of the bed. One sock was black and the other was dark blue, but he didn't care.

"But I'm pretty sure it's not me you were afraid of."

He muttered something under his breath. Where was all this insight coming from? Was he supposed to believe Heero cared now? What was he trying to achieve?

"For the record, if I had known your family was in Montana, not in Manhattan, I would have made you take time off so you could come visit."

He paused to aim a frown at him. He couldn't tell what the other man was thinking or what his intentions were. But the man was right. Duo hadn't been afraid of Heero firing him for asking for a couple of days off to see his family. Duo had been afraid of coming home, ever since he first left. He disappointed them when he came out. He disappointed them when he refused to take over the family business. He disappointed them when he moved across the country. He disappointed them when he said he wanted to be an artist, of all things. He disappointed them by failing. He didn't want to come back as a disappointment.

But now… now on top of everything he would disappoint them as a liar… and a fraud.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to me misnumbering a coupling of chapters, I very nearly posted chapter six as chapter five right now! That would have been very confusing to read. **

* * *

_**Bona fide**_

_A GWCU fanfiction based on The Proposal (2009) _

_**PART FIVE**_

His mom and dad spent the day taking Heero sightseeing – and Duo trailed along. There really wasn't much to see in the small town of Broadview, Montana, but Heero was gracious enough to pretend to be interested as he was shown the statue of a local war hero like they were touring the Statue of Liberty, and walked down main street to the town's square like they were walking down Broadway to Times Square. C.C. did most of the talking. Norman didn't really say anything and neither did Duo. Heero "Hn'd" every once in a while when C.C.'s intermittent silences required come sort of response.

They had lunch together and then did some shopping in preparation of the party that night. It was startling how infatuated his mother was with his 'fiancé' – when she didn't even know of their fake engagement yet.

Heero's phone had been going off the entire day, but he didn't answer it once and eventually even put it on silent. Duo heard it vibrate several times during lunch, but the curator ignored it. At least Heero was committed to the charade, recognizing that the importance of convincing everyone of their relationship trumped the importance of his job – for the time being, at least.

On their way back home, they would pick up Duo's grandmother.

The spry older lady had been waiting on the front porch of her home and when she noticed her son's car approaching, she rushed down the path with quick little steps.

Duo opened the car door before they had even come to a full stop and oomphed when the woman collided with him and squeezed him to her tightly. He hugged her back but was mindful not to get a single one of white hairs out of place.

"Nice of you to finally drop by, before I drop dead," she joked crassly, finally letting go of her grandchild.

"Granny! Don't say stuff like that!" He looked back at his parents getting out of the car, but Heero was still buckled up in the back seat. He made a face and motioned for him to get his ass out of the truck to show some respect.

Heero came out and approached apprehensively. He tried to pull the same trick he had with C.C. – avoiding a hug by reaching out for a formal handshake. But Granny wasn't deterred and instead he just ended up with his hand awkwardly sandwiched between the two of them as she embraced him. He patted her back with one free hand and the way he looked at Duo over the woman's shoulder, with desperation in his eyes, amused Duo and he certainly wasn't going to come to his aid.

The hug lingered uncomfortably long and Duo knew Granny did it on purpose. She was like a dog in the sense that she could smell what people were feeling, but like a little devil in the way she abused that intuition. When she finally released him, she appraised him. "Look at this one. Like Michelangelo sculpted him himself." She playfully smacked his cheek, making the Japanese man reel back with wide eyes. "Not as tough as marble, though."

_Cheeky little…_ Duo laughed.

Duo, Heero and Granny squeezed into the backseat of the car for the five minute drive back to the house. Like everyone else, she was surprised to learn Duo's miserable boss and his boyfriend were one and the same, but it sparked a long tangent about how she and Granddad used to hate each other's guts – and how they ended up loving each other until the day he died, nearly a decade ago.

At the house, his mother and grandmother whipped up a quick meal and while the men ate the two ladies snacked a little here and there while readying for the guests to arrive. Laughing as they prepared finger foods and added a little too much 'punch' to the bowl of punch. Heero excused himself to go freshen up.

Duo became increasingly worried as his mother dropped names of the guests that would be coming. Aunts and uncles, cousins and old friends from high school. He wasn't even sure if most of these people knew he was gay to begin with – he never officially came out to anyone other than his parents and the few times he did come home for holidays and birthdays, the subject was never broached.

"Are you at least getting a raise?" Granny inquired, while stirring a big batch of dip.

"Actually, I'm having my work featured in the gallery soon. I won't be Heero's assistant anymore." Before they could accuse him of anything, he said: "Heero fell in love with my work before he fell in love with me."

"That's wonderful!" Said his mom and Granny as one.

His father agreed, albeit less enthusiastically.

"Turns out the one positive thing we ever heard you say about Heero is true: he has great taste."

"Yeah…" He became morose and it was difficult to hide. Of everything, perhaps the lie that Heero approved of his art was the most painful to him of all. Heero did have a great eye – his taste was impeccable. Not only did he select the most wonderful works from well-known artists, he picked artists out of obscurity and launched their careers because he had a great eye and anyone who was anyone trusted it.

His grandmother was looking at him, but he wouldn't know if she was going to say anything or not, because the doorbell rang.

"That has to be Andrea and Frank," Cecilia said. "They are always first to arrive, at any occasion." She motioned for Duo to go answer the door.

He got up and walked to the front door. It felt like there was lead in his shoes. He could see their distorted faces through the stained glass window of the door, lit by the porch light. "Annie! Frankie!" He mimicked enthusiasm as he welcomed them inside.

"Buddy boy!" His uncle hugged him first, then it was his aunt's turn. Duo used to be very close with them, he had many sleepovers with their three sons when they were younger, since he didn't have any siblings himself.

"Look at you, still ugly, I see," the boisterous man said.

Duo let out a chuckle as apparently the man hadn't forgotten about their running gag. He and their three sons used to call each other 'Ugly' all the time, instead of using their actual names. Duo didn't even know how it ever started, or where it stemmed from, just that it used to be funny as Hell, running through the streets calling his nephews Ugly at the top of his lungs.

He walked them into the kitchen and watched wistfully as the family members hugged each other and were genuinely excited to be in each other's company, even though Duo knew they spent time together all the time. He noticed his mother mouth at him: 'Go get Heero.'

His stomach turned again, twisting all those happy feelings into a dreadful, nerve-wracking mess.

With those same leaden shoes from before, he walked upstairs.

Heero was standing by the window, looking out at the moonlit woods stretching out behind the house.

"Let's go. My aunt and uncle are already here."

The introduction went as well as expected. The extended family wasn't as familiar with how much Duo hated his boss, so there was little resistance and the same-sex relationship didn't throw them off. The same could not be said for everyone, as more guests arrived at the house. There were some inappropriate jokes and awkward tension, but nothing insufferable.

The three nephews, two more aunts and uncles and their teenage kids, his dad's golfing buddy – and longtime family friend – the neighbors from both sides and four friends from high school, including a girl Duo used to date before he had his sexuality figured out, all came to the house and were all excited to see him again. It was as weird as it was wonderful and Duo felt more relaxed when he finished his first beer. Heero was mostly a silent shadow to him while Duo mingled.

It was over an hour into the evening when Frank motioned at Heero with his glass of Whiskey and said a little too loudly: "This one must be special, for you to bring him home to meet the folks."

His powerful voice drew everyone's attention, silencing the other conversations going on in the living room. Suddenly, all eyes were on Duo and it was quiet.

Sweat burst out of him like he was being wrung out and his face was unbearably hot as the focus point of all their curious stares.

_Oh fuck, this is it_, he realized. If he didn't say it now, it was going to be out of place later. He looked over his shoulder at Heero, regretting that they had agreed for Duo to take the lead. It wouldn't have been right for Heero to be the one to come out and say it, but it definitely would have been easier.

He knew he had been staring for too long and tried to play it off as him being love struck. He reached out for the Japanese man and with a gentle touch to his elbow he invited him to come stand at his side. After a moment of hesitation, he wrapped an arm around Heero's shoulders, having to present a facsimile of a couple madly in love. He could feel the tension in Heero's body, but his face was perfectly impassive.

"Heero is special," he said to the group. "Very special… So, so special…" His stalling was embarrassingly inelegant. "Uhm…" He looked to his parents and grandmother, seated on the couch. "I've been trying to find the right time to say this… And what better time than when surrounded by friends and family? But, I've been so busy trying to find the right time, that I've forgotten to find the right words." He chuckled nervously and the audience joined in. "Heero and I…" Even that was a weird thing to say and it was only getting worse. "Heero and I are getting married."

There was silence first. Then his mother bounced up from the couch. "Honey… That's wonderful!" She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around both of them. When she pulled back Duo noticed the tears in her eyes and he hated himself.

"I never thought you'd… I didn't think… I mean, I knew you _could_, legally, but I never knew you wanted…" She couldn't finish a single sentence, too emotional and too excited.

"She didn't think you'd have the balls to get hitched," Granny helpfully said.

"Mom!"

Granny snickered.

"Please, can I be a part of the planning?" Duo's mother begged him.

"Oh, uh… I don't think there's going to be much to plan. We were just gonna go to City Hall and-"

"Don't you dare!"

"There really isn't any time. There's a problem with Heero's Visa, so he's going to have to leave the country for a while if we don't do it soon."

C.C.'s eyes widened as a sudden idea struck her. "Do it here!"

"What-"

"This weekend!"

For the first time, Heero spoke: "We're flying home on Saturday morning."

"Just stay one day longer. I just need one day to arrange everything and I promise I will make it a beautiful wedding for you two."

"Mom, really, we-"

"Oh, bullshit, just say yes already." Granny got up from the couch and waved her hand dismissively. "And while you're at it, go adopt a grandchild for me too, before I expire."

"Jesus…" Duo looked to Heero, but his boss wasn't of any help, he was as shocked as he was.

A couple of photographs from an actual wedding ceremony, surrounded by friends and family, would make their case with the Citizenship and Immigration Services more compelling… So he said: "Okay, yeah. Let's do it." Might as well get it over with.

His mother squealed and hugged them again. While the other guests came up one by one to congratulate the happy – actually shell-shocked – couple, C.C. addressed the room: "People, we have a wedding to prepare!"

The living room turned into a control room after that as his mother strategized and assigned duties. It took little for her to persuade everyone to be on board and use their connections to make this event happen. Even though gay marriage had been legalized for a while, it would still be a novelty to this small town. But his parents were beloved in Broadview, Montana, and why wouldn't they be? They were kind, generous people, charitable even. People who made everyone part of a family. Even miserable curators from Manhattan.

Duo finally realized that Heero had snuck out of the crowd and he was about to go find him when his grandmother came to find Duo instead and she urged him to follow her into the den for some privacy.

Once she had him alone, she questioned: "Is this marriage intended as a scam to keep Heero in the country?"

"No!" He hurried to say.

She stared him down for a moment and he was proud that he didn't budge. A genuine smile appeared on her thin lips as she accepted his word as truth. She had raised him to be an honest boy, after all. "Okay." She stepped closer and reached for his hands. She held them for a moment, patting them, before turning them over and shaping them into a cup. Then she took off the one ring she wore – the engagement ring with which her husband had proposed to her. She placed that ring in the palm of Duo's right hand and then closed his fingers around it.

He shook his head incessantly. "No. No, Granny, I can't accept this."

"It's not for you!" She smacked him upside the head. "It's for Heero."

"Yeah, I get that, but I can't. I can't give this to him."

"Why not?"

"Because… it's yours!"

The lady shook her head. "It doesn't belong to me. It belongs something greater than me. It belongs to this family," she said solemnly. "It's been a symbol of love and loyalty in this family for four generations. Now, your mother gave it back to me after Grandpa passed away and that was lovely of her. But we both agreed it would be yours to give away someday. And that day has come."

He opened his palm to look at the ring. He cradled it carefully. The central sapphire, with rows of small diamonds on either side, reflected the light delicately.

"It was meant to be. It's as blue as his eyes."

"Oh God." He couldn't contain a sob. It was incredible to him that she would offer her gay grandson this treasured heirloom and that she considered his relationship as valid and loving as her own – as any relationship on which this family was built. In spite of what many people around the world, and around the corner, still thought of two men getting married. That the gesture was wasted on a lie, made his every heartbeat a jolt of pain in his chest.

She cupped his chin and pulled him down to kiss him on his forehead. "Now don't fuck this up."

Duo was startled by his own laugh.

Granny left him alone in the den and he needed a moment to sort through his emotions and steady himself. Beyond the door he heard laughter and it hollowed him, but there was no backing out now. He had to go through with this, he had to commit to the lie now, if he wanted to protect his family from being devastated by the truth.

He had guessed Heero had snuck upstairs however, through the window of the den he could see the man standing in the backyard, facing the forest.

Duo went to him, grabbing two of his dad's coats off the hangers in the hallway before going out the back door. Dry leaves crunched under his feet as he walked through the grass to where Heero stood. He slipped into one of the coats along the way and draped the other over Heero's shoulders when he reached him.

Heero didn't thank him, although he must have been cold, because he instantly brought up his hands to keep the coat closed around him.

"That went pretty well," Duo tried lightheartedly, standing next to the other.

"Could have been worse."

"Having an actual ceremony will look good for your Green Card application."

"Hn."

"It's just a song and dance. We'll still have to make it official in New York at City hall, with all the right paperwork. It doesn't really mean anything."

"It means something to your mother."

Duo chewed on the inside of his cheek, less painful than hearing the truth.

"Chang called, he left a message. Our interview is the twenty-third."

"Then we'll have to sign on the dotted line next week. If it's official, we'll be in a stronger position."

Heero turned to face him with a serious expression. "You can still back out of this, Duo. Chang told me to remind you of that. He'll let you off the hook if you come clean first thing Monday."

Duo frowned at him. "Why are you telling me that."

"Because you deserve to know."

"It doesn't matter." He shook his head. He had made up his mind. "In for a penny, in for a pound. It's like you said: this isn't just for you. It benefits me too. And now, it's for my family as well." He fidgeted with the ring that was in the pocket of his jeans. "They want this. I-… Honestly… I never thought I'd ever be able to do anything that would make them this happy. I can't take that away now." He closed his fingers around the ring and he hesitated but he pulled it out of his pocket only to hold it in his clenched fist at his side for a few more minutes as they stood in the cool air of the night.

Heero turned to face the trees again and his gaze followed the trunk of an oak up to its branches and then up to the starry sky. "You're the worst assistant I've ever had…"

Duo looked at him with proper disdain. _Seriously? A random insult? Now?_

"… But you're a good son."

_Oh. _He titled his head up at the sky as well. "I don't think that's true. Good sons don't miss two Thanksgivings and Christmases in a row."

"You love them. You were just afraid of disappointing them, because you're gay… and dirt poor."

For the first time, Duo was amused by having Heero sling an insult his way and he laughed.

"Turns out you were never a disappointment to them at all."

Maybe the man wasn't pure, self-indulgent evil after all. He tore his gaze away from the sky and instead watched the stars reflect in Heero's eyes. They were beautiful, just like the sapphire. "Thank you. For saying that." He was content with staring at him, reminding himself of how handsome the man was. He remembered thinking that to himself when he first met the curator, but the hideous way in which his boss had treated him since, had made him blind to it.

"When I told my grandfather I was gay, he said I should never speak of it again and that he wished I had respected him enough to keep it to myself, because now he would die knowing that the last Yuy left would do nothing but besmirch the name."

Duo let out a puff of air at the intimate story. It amazed him that Heero had volunteered to tell it.

The man's mouth tightened. He never looked down from the stars. He explained his honesty offhandedly: "It was one of the questions on your list. How did your partner come out?"

The most meaningful way to thank him was to share his own story, so he told him of the day he went off to college. He had kept the secret bottled up for years and he only dared to tell his parents the truth because he knew he'd had a place to go afterwards and they didn't have to see him again if they didn't want to. The reaction he got was limited to mild surprise from both and then his mother was quick to say that she accepted him and loved him. His father didn't say anything. He never treated him differently since knowing the truth, but Duo hadn't been able to tell if that was because his dad didn't think of him differently, or if he just meant to ignore the truth and pretend nothing had changed. He never officially came out to his grandmother, but his parents told her while he was away for his first semester and when he came back for the holidays she had a seat next to his during Thanksgiving dinner and she just leaned in with a smirk and said: "Called it."

The story made Heero smile and he tilted his head down to look at his feet, at his expensive shoes getting wet in the damp grass.

Duo cleared his throat and maneuvered to stand in front of Heero, rather than to his side. "I had another interesting talk with her, tonight. She told me to give you this." He pinched the ring between his fingers and held it out to the other man.

Heero looked up from his feet to the ring that was proffered and then to Duo's face.

The American shrugged. "Obviously, I'm gonna need it back when we get divorced," he was quick to joke, because the moment felt way to heavy otherwise. He avoided Heero's gaze because that, too, was far too intense. From his new position, facing the house instead of facing away, he became aware that they had an audience. Granny and his mother were standing at the kitchen window. His mother had the decency to keep up the pretense that she was doing the dishes, but his grandmother sported a grin and waved. He gave her a look, hoping she would give them some privacy, but she just kept watching.

"It's your grandmother's ring."

He focused on Heero again. "It's the family ring. And… you're family now, as far as she's concerned." The watchful eyes on him threw him off. Not knowing how Heero would react, he told him they had a witness.

The Japanese man reactively looked over his shoulder and spotted the two women through the window.

Granny waved again.

Heero half-heartedly waved back before once more facing Duo, this time with a comical expression.

"I'm gonna give you the ring, and we should probably kiss after that."

"Probably."

He reached for Heero's left hand ceremoniously, even though all the spectators could see was Heero's back and Duo towering over him. He tried to put the ring on the fourth finger, but he couldn't get it past the second joint. Heero was a slender man and not very tall, but of course his fingers weren't as thin as those of a skinny, five foot three, eighty-two year old woman. He let out a breathy chuckle, which was a cloud of white air in front of his face. He tried the pinky and it was a perfect fit.

Duo leaned in to follow through on the plan, but with only a few inches left between their faces, Heero looked up from the ring and their gazes locked, freezing Duo. He felt himself getting warm, in spite of the fact that it was cold and he hadn't zipped up the coat. He pushed through his nerves and leaned in, placing a kiss on the corner of Heero's mouth. A little less intimidating than going straight for the lips and from where they stood, his mother and grandmother wouldn't be able to tell anyway. He realized, too late, that he probably also could have gotten away with a much more platonic kiss on the cheek.

It lasted only a second and then he pulled back and even took a step back.

The sound of a window swinging open with a creak drew both their attention and they looked at the elderly lady as she shouted: "You call that a kiss?" They heard Duo's mother laugh and rather than fight to keep her mother-in-law from meddling, she gave up on doing the dishes and waited as well.

The two men looked at each other uncomfortably. Duo was trying to think of a rebuttal until Heero said: "Just do it. It's only a kiss."

He had expected some hesitation on his own behalf, but the word 'kiss' had barely left Heero's lips before Duo touched a finger to the underside of his chin and captured his mouth. Heero's eyes slipped closed first. His mouth was also the first to open. Duo didn't dare to use his tongue – that was still his elderly, Catholic grandmother watching, after all – but the realization that he definitely wanted to was like a ringing of bells in his head.

A hilarious 'woohoo' caused them to part and look back in time to see C.C. ushering Granny away from the window.

Duo bounced awkwardly on the balls of his feet and both men purposefully looked the other way. After a couple of minutes to let the cold invade his body again, Duo interrupted the silence. "Wanna go inside and get a drink?"

"Yes. Please."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Bona fide**_

_A GWCU fanfiction based on The Proposal (2009)_

* * *

_**PART SIX**_

Duo's mother was going to arrange everything and surprise them both, she was adamant about it. Duo and Heero were fine with that, at least they wouldn't have to think about things that they had never considered before in the first place. Like the type of venue, food, music or flowers. Once in a while his mother would present them with two options to choose from and the answer was always the same, from either of them: "Whatever you think is best."

Heero spent the morning with his laptop and cellphone in Norman's den. With them getting married on Saturday, they wouldn't be back in time for the fundraiser at the gallery on Sunday, so Heero had to delegate and instruct the rest of the staff. From what Duo could tell from catching snippets of conversation, Mulls was willing to step in, in the absence of his curator. It was fairly apparent the gallery owner was happy to make this investment of his time so his prized curator wouldn't get deported.

Duo caught himself walking down the hallway between the kitchen and the living room a lot, sneaking glances at Heero at his father's desk. He had a lot of odd thoughts bounding around his head that he couldn't get a grasp on for long enough to decide if they had any impact or meaning at all, or just a temporary presence that would eventually lose steam and sink to the bottom of the grey matter like all other rash impulses.

He was spying on him again – although, was it really spying when he was blatantly standing right outside the door, staring at him? – when he heard: "Psst!"

Duo spotted his mother in the kitchen, waving him over. He shot one last look into the den and then walked up to her. "What?"

"I'm pretty sure every piece of clothing Heero has brought with him in his suitcase is nice enough to get married in," she said. Today the man was wearing a blue suit over white button-up, the jacket being of supple fabric and draping down to mid-thigh, elongating him and moving like poetry with every move. "But I take it all you've packed is that one pair of jeans you've been wearing, two sweaters and a handful of socks and underwear."

Yeah, so… apparently a son didn't have to be home much for his mother to know him really well. He shrugged.

"Let's go."

"Go where?"

"To the store, to get you a suit for your wedding day." She grabbed his hand and urged him along to the front door.

"Uhhh… I… Uhm… I don't think I should leave Heero alone."

"He's working anyway. And your father won't bother him, don't worry."

Before he could come up with a legitimate excuse that could get him out of buying a suit for his wedding day – the thought of which made him feel hot and itchy – he had been dragged out the door and ushered into the car, behind the wheel because his mother didn't like to drive. Heero was going to give him Hell later for leaving without even giving him a head's up.

"Does Heero like the ring?" She asked with a big smile, as soon as they pulled out of the driveway.

"You don't mind that he has it?"

"Of course not. Why would you think so?"

"Just because Granny is crazy enough to give her blessing-"

"Don't speak of your grandmother like that. And don't ever think I wouldn't give you my blessing for being with the person you love."

His gaze remained focused on the road while she spoke.

"Ever since you were a little boy and you planted a kiss on Maggie Grey's cheek at Andrea and Frank's anniversary, I've been waiting for the day for you to stand before us, as a grown man, to tell us you are getting married. Last night was a dream come true for me. That you are marrying a man, doesn't detract from that in the least. And getting to meet him has made me feel closer to you than I have in years."

His eyes welled up with tears and a weak, bitter chuckle escaped him. She was saying everything he had always wanted to hear, but it was all tainted. When she lay her hand over his right hand, which had been resting on the gear shift, a tear fell and he didn't have a hand free to wipe it away before she saw.

"I love you. I'm sorry for making you doubt that."

"No… No. It's just… I've always known that you love me, but I didn't know how you felt about this side of me. You've never asked about… boyfriends, or… stuff."

"I didn't want you to think I was prying. Duo, sweetheart, I still remember how terrified you were when you told us you were gay. I wanted to let you be as open or as private as you wanted. I wanted to let you decide on what you felt comfortable sharing or not."

He nodded in understanding. His voice was nothing but a mere whisper in the cathartic moment. "Thanks, Mom. I love you."

"I love you to." She squeezed his hands before letting go, so he could wipe his cheeks dry.

"What about Dad?" He dared to ask.

She sighed. "He's struggling a little."

Her honesty was painful, but it was what he needed.

"I think because we've all chosen not to talk about your sexuality, for our own reasons, he hasn't really made himself come to terms with it yet. It doesn't mean he loves you any less," she stressed.

He nodded and thanked her for telling him. Then he eagerly changed the subject and while he got her to ramble on about the new – hideous – statue in the neighbor's front yard, he had some time to breathe and gain control of his emotions.

At a local store, they picked out a simple tuxedo for him to wear and the elderly seamstress would have it tailored in time for the wedding the next day. She was an old friend of Granny and happy to do it. She couldn't be budged into giving a discount though, the cheeky lady. It wasn't hard to tell why she was friends with Granny.

Mother and son had a late lunch after the fitting before going back home.

When Duo walked into the kitchen, he saw his father exiting the den. He looked at his son. His mouth was tight and his eyes distrusting. Then he walked in the opposite direction, even though Duo called for him. Rather than going after his father, who clearly didn't want to talk, Duo headed into the den where he found Heero thoughtfully staring out the window. It didn't feel right just bursting in, so he announced his presence by knocking on the open door, before taking two steps into the room.

"What's going on?"

"Hm?" Heero blinked a few times before meeting his questioning gaze. "What do you mean?"

"My dad just gave me a weird look."

Heero sighed. "Chang called. Here. He told your dad about his suspicions."

Duo's nostrils flared in anger. "That fucking asshole has no right!"

"Yes, he does. It's part of the process."

"No, he has the right to ask questions. He doesn't have the right to call up and poison my family against us." He started pacing back and forth. "And you know what? Fuck my dad for believing some stranger's word over mine. I told him that I love you. He doesn't get to question that just because some asshole Immigration officer is butting in."

"Calm down," Heero said, getting up from his seat.

"No. I will not. And you're not the boss of me. Not anymore!" He didn't know why his anger shifted to Heero. The man, for once, hadn't sounded forceful, or superior.

"Duo, we can fix this. Why are you getting so riled up?"

"My mom took me to buy a tux, for our wedding," Duo said, full – overflowing, rather – with emotion. "She told me that meeting you has made her feel closer to me. She told me she has always dreamed of the day I'd get married and that it doesn't matter that it's with another guy. She's so wonderful and I'm a piece of shit." He kept his voice down so they wouldn't be overheard, since his father was already suspicious now.

Heero could say nothing other than: "I'm sorry."

Duo shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, taking a moment to regain his composure. "No, you don't have to say that. It's not your fault. It was my idea." He snorted at the ridiculousness of it all. "It was all my idea."

"Chang's deal doesn't expire until Monday."

"Stop saying that. I'm not taking his deal. We're doing this," he said with resolve. "I gotta go convince my dad now, I really don't have the energy to convince you too."

"Okay." He paused. "Thank you. I know you're not doing it for me, but-"

"You're welcome," Duo said, as soon as he realized that was the first time Heero had ever thanked him for anything.

They shared a long look.

"I'm gonna…" Duo threw a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the door. "I'm gonna talk to my dad." The den felt too small all of sudden. Had they been standing this close the entire time? Why did he suddenly notice the scent of Heero's cologne?

"Okay. Good luck."

Duo scratched the top of his head, once more befuddled by his own, elusive thoughts and then backed out of the den and went to search for his father. He found him in the backyard, raking leaves off the lawn. Duo stood on the back porch and watched him for a minute as he wrestled with words in his head in preparation.

Eventually, his father stopped his chore, planted the rake in the ground and leaned on it like a staff. "Either help me rake, or help me understand."

Duo dug his hands into the pockets of his denim jacket and came a few steps closer.

"Why did a USCIS officer just call me to tell me that my son is committing fraud to keep some guy in the country?"

"Dad… tell me honestly: if WuFei Chang had called to tell you I was marrying some girl to get her a Green Card, would you question my relationship just as readily?"

He adjusted his hold on the rake and looked off to the side.

"Just be honest."

"Honestly… no. Probably not."

"What would you have told Chang if he said I was marrying Hilde, to keep her from being deported to Germany?"

"That's not fair, you've known Hilde for a long time."

"Actually, I've known Heero longer, if you look at the time we've really spent together."

"Yes, time you spent hating him. That's what you told us yourself, every chance you got," Norman pointed out.

"Yeah, I did hate him, at first. Not anymore." There was a novel truth to that statement. It was a far, far more recent and minor development than he implied, but still… "But when that change happened, I didn't feel like I could tell you guys. I couldn't tell you that I had come to love him, because I didn't think it was something you wanted to hear. So I kept ranting on about him, like I always had."

"So you've been lying to us?"

_You have no idea…_ "Yes. Because I've never felt like I've been the son you wanted, I didn't want to pile my gay romance on top of that disappointment. It's why I've never told you about any of my boyfriends."

The grey-haired man frowned. "On top of what disappointment?"

Duo's heart had been hurting so much these past few days that it was exhausting. He heaved a sigh and bared a long-time wound to his father. "That I'm nothing. That I'm just a twenty-six year old assistant, pretending to be an artist."

The man let the rake drop into a pile of leaves and he veritably stormed towards him and pulled his son into his arms and he petted his hair when Duo cried into his shoulder, too emotionally raw after his earlier talk with his mother to reign it in.

"You are not nothing," he stated. "You are a brilliant artist. Heero knows that now. But I have _always _known it. It is one of many reasons why I am proud to call you my son."

"Fuck…" he gritted. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, my boy. And I trust you." He hugged him for a while longer and then released him after one last squeeze. He went back to pick up the rake, handed it to Duo and clapped him on his shoulder. "Help out an old man, would you?"

Duo chuckled. "Sure." He watched his father jog into the house, calling over his shoulder that he was getting trash bags for the leaves. That was when Duo noticed the figure standing behind the window of the den. Heero had been watching the entire time. Their eyes met and neither looked away. Duo felt a flutter in his stomach, but brushed it off as an effect the heart-to-heart with his Mom, Dad and Grandma, in such a short span of time, had had on him.

Norman returned with trash bags and together they cleaned up the yard.

When they were done and headed back inside, Cecilia suggested the four of them should go out for dinner, which they all happily agreed on. In the hallway, Norman handed Heero his coat, touched a hand to his shoulder and smiled at him. Duo knew their secret was safe.

* * *

Even though they had been having a good time at the restaurant and hadn't had dessert yet, his mother announced that they should head back home, after constantly checking her watch for the past hour. Norman paid the check and the foursome left to go home.

"You boys need to get your beauty sleep. I plan on taking lots of pictures tomorrow," said Duo's mother as they drove home.

Duo knew something was going on and that suspicion was confirmed when Norman handed Duo the keys of the house and he and his wife trailed behind the two younger men, walking up to the front door.

As soon as the door swung open, the lights were switched on and dozens of people screamed 'Surprise!' right before someone in the living room pressed play on cue and loud music filled the house, only to be drowned out by cheers from friends, family members, neighbors and pretty much Duo's entire class from his Senior year in High School.

Granny was at the front and approached him to be heard over the music as she said: "Sorry, we couldn't find any male strippers on short notice."

"Mom!" Called C.C. as she shook of her coat. "This isn't a bachelor party, it's an engagement bash."

"Still would have been better with strippers!"

_Amen._ Duo took off his coat and then helped Heero out of his, because the man looked ready to bolt but was less likely to run out into the cold in just the white button-up and blue trousers he had been wearing all day. They had no choice but to go along and pause for pictures every time someone pointed their smartphone at them. Duo boldly snaked his arm around Heero's waist every time they posed, knowing it would look good to show those photo's to Chang. Everyone told them they looked great together and when one of them showed Duo the picture that had been snapped, he couldn't help but agree. As unnatural as it still felt, it looked natural. It was only then that Duo noticed how subtly Heero leaned into him.

The music was loud enough to drown out the self-doubt that had been plaguing him and he decided to enjoy the party, but limited himself to one beer because he did intend on looking dashing in his tuxedo the next day.

After merely an hour or so, the older generation retreated to the formal sitting room, as far away from the stereo as they could be, while all of Duo's cousins, old friends and former classmates danced in the living room, spilling into the kitchen. He was pretty sure nobody actually cared all that much about his engagement, but in a stale town like Broadview, Duo remembered that while you were still young, you had to make the best of every chance you got to party.

Heero had been by his side for most of the night until Duo lost track of him when Hilde – his High School sweetheart – playfully asked him to dance. He jumped up and down with her to _Footloose_, _Waterloo_ and _It's Raining Men_, just three of the cliché songs that were playing all night. Which he thought was pretty hilarious, in a tongue-in-cheek way, for the engagement party of a gay couple.

He kissed her on the cheek and then handed her over to her husband who had joined them on the dance floor. He searched the crowd for Heero's face but couldn't find him and he felt guilty for leaving him to fend for himself in a room full of strangers. Although he never knew Heero to have trouble taking care of himself. He had seen the curator shine through many busy events. Of course those were with much more civilized, sophisticated people than had gathered now.

He climbed the steps two at a time to reach the guest bedroom upstairs. The bedroom was empty, and so was the bathroom. He headed back down the hallway and then caught sight of the man standing in Duo's childhood bedroom, which had been preserved by his parents. He stood at the threshold and quizzically regarded his boss, sitting on the edge of the twin bed, in front of a wall that Duo had painted a Wild West scene on, when he was ten years old.

He was about to make a joke about the cross-eyed horse to ease his own discomfort, when he noticed that Heero… didn't look like himself. Duo couldn't put his finger on what that meant – he didn't look stressed, or scared, or flustered - he just recognized instantly that he wasn't himself and that something was wrong.

"Can we get out of here?" Heero said with strained voice.

Duo nodded. "Yeah. Okay. Let's go." Heero darted out the room and out of the house and Duo rushed after him, thinking to snatch two of his father's warm coats again along the way, since he had no idea where they would end up. When Heero approached Norman's truck, Duo called out to him and thumbed at the garage. "Let's take my truck." He was pretty sure his dad would need his own car to shuttle Granny home soon. With the press of a button he opened the garage door and got behind the wheel of his rusty pick-up truck which his parents had gotten him for his Senior year. He hadn't used it much in the past eight years, but he knew tinkering with it was a hobby of his dad's, so he trusted it to still start.

As soon as Heero climbed into the passenger seat, Duo put the old pick-up to the test and turned the key in the ignition. He wasn't disappointed in his dad's mechanical skills. He backed it out of the garage, paused to remotely close the doors and then pulled away from the house to drive aimlessly. He kept glancing Heero's way. The man looked calm, but absent. When he looked for about the hundredth time, he was caught and his gaze met Heero's.

"Thanks," the Japanese man said. "For not making me explain."

"No problem." He bit his lips. "I'm not asking… but… If you wanna tell me what's going on…-"

"Family means something to me too."

Duo frowned at the road.

"What you said, Wednesday night, when we just got here… You said 'family might mean shit to you, but it means something here'."

Duo had said that and as recent as that outburst was, it felt like ages ago, because so much had changed since then.

"Just because I don't have a family, doesn't mean…" He made a weak gesture and turned his head away.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I… I didn't know you nearly well enough to come to a conclusion like that. I still don't know you very well, but… I'm pretty sure now that that was way off." He knew that was why Heero kept reminding him of the deal Chang had extended to him. Heero was fine trading his reputation as a picky curator and displaying Duo's amateur work to keep his job at the gallery, but he clearly wasn't okay with hurting Duo's family in order to stay. Knowing how much the gallery meant to the Japanese man, gave plenty of weight to that.

It was silent for a long time and Duo just kept driving along the country roads circling the town. He waited patiently, because he knew Heero would eventually speak and he was right.

"My parents weren't very affectionate. That wasn't their fault, just how they were raised," he started quietly. "It's a horrible thing to say but, while I loved them, I didn't miss them much, once they were gone. I went to live with my grandfather, who was much the same as my father. He was a stoic traditionalist who never did any harm, but never did any good either. He never laid a hand on me, he also never hugged me."

That short story explained so much about Heero that it put the past two years in a different perspective for Duo.

His voice became a little stronger as he said: "I've never had what you have, but that doesn't mean I don't know how valuable family is. In fact, I think I'm all the more acutely aware."

"I'm sorry," he said again, truly meaning it.

Without Duo needing to ask him, Heero told him what had caused him to get upset at the party: "When you were dancing, I ran into your grandma. She started telling me she had never been to New York, but that she wanted to see it. And that she wanted to see it with us. 'Maybe… maybe this Christmas', she said. She and your parents could fly out and stay in Manhattan for the Holiday weekend. She wanted to see the Empire State building, and the gallery, and my loft, and my cat, Sam."

_Sam? Sam as in Samuel? _Duo wondered, bemused, how the little minx had gotten the man to admit to that.

"I remembered one of the questions on your list was: 'How do you spend the holidays?' And I got to thinking it would be really, really lovely to spend it with… family." Then he choked out a sob.

Duo's eyes widened and he looked to see the always composed man in tears, refusing to look back at him.

"But it's all fake," Heero continued, angrily wiping at his face. "After a couple of years of marriage, my Green Card won't get disputed when we divorce and I'll give this ring back to you and I will never see them again. I'll go back to not having a family again, only missing it all the more." He let out a laugh. "And I don't even like the ring!"

Duo laughed as well at the moment of levity.

"It's really dated and doesn't go with _anything_ I own, but…" He didn't finish that sentence. He didn't have to. He toyed with the ring and chuckled instead. "Anyway… Sorry I ruined your party. If we go back, you might still get a dance or two."

He could tell Heero wasn't truly ready to go back to the house yet. "Nah. No rush. In fact, I want to show you something, city boy." He drove the car onto the next dirt road splitting off from the road they were on and then drove out into a vast field of grass. He used to spend a lot of time in that field when he was younger, playing sports with his nephews, or escaping life on his own. They had been driving for nearly an hour, but he had been circling the town and they were, in fact, only a couple of miles away from the house. Duo still knew exactly how to get back through the patch of forest between the field and his street; he knew the forest by heart.

The truck screeched to a halt in the middle of the wide open space and he shut off the engine. "Come on." He threw the door open and jumped out.

After some delay, Heero got out of the cabin as well and walked around the vehicle to join Duo at the back.

"Here, put this on." He handed Heero one of the heavy coats and put the other on himself. Exerting some force he managed to drop the rusty tail gate and climbed into the open back of the pick-up truck. He extended his hand out to Heero and helped him up.

Heero watched apprehensively as Duo lowered himself down onto the metal flooring and lay flat on his back. The American patted the empty space beside him. There was more hesitation on Heero's behalf, but he eventually got into position next to Duo, lying face up.

"Woa…" the usually jaded art connoisseur breathed, as the starry sky filled his entire field of vision. Heero wasn't easily impressed, but it suited him well that the sight of the universe managed to do so.

Is wasn't a sight that could be observed from the city. The light pollution dulled the midnight sky. And from C.C and Norman's backyard, the branches of the trees of the forest encroaching on the house, obstructed the view.

Duo didn't watch the stars that sparkled above them, he watched Heero. He smiled noticing the other man was regularly holding his breath, so the white puff of air wouldn't cloud his vision. "Pretty good, huh?" He smirked.

"… It's astonishing."

"Whenever I came home from college, I'd sneak out every night and laid here, right here in the back of this very truck, soaking it all up. Letting it inspire me, so I could keep painting, keep drawing." The wonder on Heero's features was mesmerizing. "I aspire to one day create something that people will look at like that. I know I can't, nobody can. But it's what drives me."

"Maybe, one day, you can," Heero whispered.

Duo rolled onto his side and propped his head up in the palm of his left hand, to feast on the sight of Heero as it, too, inspired him, unexpectedly.

Heero's blue eyes shifted ever so slightly to regard him.

With his right he reached for Heero's open coat, folding it closed over his chest to keep him warm. Then his fingers trailed the zipper up his chest and he touched his cheek, reverently.

What if they got married… and didn't get divorced? What if Granny was right and this was all meant to be? What if there was something here? Something real. Something _bona fide_.

He slipped his hand around the back of Heero's neck and leaned in. There were no spectators. This wasn't for show. This was for them and for all the questions in Duo's head, that he could see in Heero's eyes too until they both closed their eyes and sank into the moment.

Their lips met, barely, but the soft touch resulted in a strong release of desire. They kissed languidly, moving their lips together. When Heero sighed pleasantly, Duo scooted closer and finally deepened the kiss. Duo moved his hand over the long neck, feeling the racing pulse of the other. His hand traveled lower, this time parting the coat to stroke down the center of Heero's chest. At his stomach, he slipped as many fingers as he could fit into the opening between two buttons to touch his skin.

Heero moaned and delved his fingers into Duo's hair and kissed him back with increased fervor.

Knowing they shouldn't rush this, considering how high the stakes were – they couldn't risk doing anything that could end up imploding everything on the eve of their wedding ceremony – Duo retreated his fingers and his tongue, slowly letting the intensity of the kiss wane before rolling away and laying down on his back again. But this time with his shoulder touching Heero's.

Neither said a word for the longest time, letting the midnight sky overwhelm them once more.

Duo was lightheaded in the aftermath of the kiss. This was the same man he absolutely despised the day before yesterday. None of what he was feeling made sense to him, because how could two days change everything he had come to believe about a person over the course of two years? Was this only because Heero was unwittingly the catalyst of the life-changing moments he had shared with his grandmother, mother and father since returning to Montana?

He focused on the brightest star, not wanting to think of any more questions this night. There was no rush, because nothing was going to change what was going to happen tomorrow anyway. He turned his head when he heard Heero sigh and was surprised to see him with his eyes closed.

"It's so quiet out here…" he extolled breathlessly.

Duo grinned and looked back up. He waited a heartbeat, letting the silence settle in again, before he started: "… _Play that funky music, white boy_…"

A single, hearty laugh escaped Heero, unlike anything Duo had ever heard from him. The rest, he painstakingly held in.

Duo continued to sing, mimicking the characteristic vocals to the best of his abilities: "_Play that funky music ri~ght! … Play thay funky music, white boy…_"

"_Lay down the boogie and play that funky music till you die._"

They both roared with laughter.


	7. Chapter 7

_**I've only just now noticed that separation lines in the text (like the one directly below) don't transfer automatically from the word document to the upload. So... that sucks to only become aware of on the seventh chapter... Sorry about that, guys. I went back and added them to the other chapters. For most parts, it's not too bad.**_

* * *

_**Bona fide**_

_A GWCU fanfiction based on The Proposal (2009)_

* * *

_**PART SEVEN**_

It was technically already their wedding day by the time they arrived back at the house. All of the guests had long left and Duo's mother fretted: "Where have you been? You two are supposed to be in bed, getting some sleep! Go, go!" She ushered them upstairs. She jokingly called after them that maybe Duo should sleep in his childhood bedroom tonight, but Duo didn't like that idea at all.

He grabbed Heero's hand and pulled him along to the guest bedroom. He wasn't planning on kissing him again, but when the door fell shut behind them, he suddenly had the man pressed up against it and ravished his mouth needily. His hands started on either side of his narrow waist, clutching him so tightly that when he dragged his hands up his ribs, he pulled the button-up out of Heero's slacks. Duo slid one of his legs between Heero's and put his hands on his waist again, but under his shirt this time. Rocking his hips against him, he became aware of Heero's erection, swiftly brining Duo to the same state of arousal.

Heero's fingers scratched at the tall man's shoulders and he moaned his name into his mouth.

Duo's hips moved at a purposeful rhythm. His hands moved around to Heero's back. One trailed up, the other down until one was tickling between his shoulder blades and the other grabbed at his ass.

"Mmm… wait… waitwaitwait…" Heero said against his lips although he kept kissing him even as Duo pulled back at his request.

Duo's entire body stilled, but he didn't move away an inch. He touched his nose to Heero's. "What is it?"

The Japanese man swallowed audibly and confessed in a whisper: "I was going to embarrass myself by coming in my pants."

Duo bit his bottom lip to stop himself from smirking. "Am I that good?"

Heero snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. It's… been a while."

"How long is a while?" He placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, then on the corner of his mouth, reminding him of their very first kiss, not very long ago at all.

"Hmmm… A year and a half."

Duo reared his head back to focus his gaze on Heero's eyes. He tried to hide his shock, he didn't want to be offensive. "That's… quite a while…"

"I've been busy."

"Yeah, making my life miserable was really time-consuming." He scrunched up his face. "Too soon?"

Heero brushed past the remark and said: "All I'm trying to warn you about is that it's not going to last, so… manage your expectations." He inhaled sharply through his nose and readily kissed back when Duo reconnected their mouths and moved his hands over his torso again.

He wasn't really thinking about taking it that far yet – "all the way" he used to say in college – but then again, he also hadn't planned on kissing him in the first place.

"I expect it to be incredible…" Duo breathed and he was confident it would be. "But I was thinking we should save ourselves for our wedding night." After a final peck on those kissable lips, he pulled back.

Heero leaned against the door heavily. He looked great with his hair all awry and his lips parted to pant. "Yeah… okay…"

He smirked. "I call dibs on the bathroom."

They took turns getting ready for bed and they each took their time in the shower, to relieve the pressure that had built. When Heero emerged from the bathroom, Duo was on the floor at the foot of the bed, where he had been sleeping for the past two nights.

"You're not even going to share the bed with me?" He asked, standing over the other.

Duo brushed his knuckles along the golden shin. "Oh, I don't dare to. I don't trust myself to be able to keep my hands to myself."

Heero scoffed at the glib statement and stepped over Duo to get to the bed.

Duo bit his lip and determinedly kept his gaze fixated on the ceiling fan until the room went pitch black when Heero switched off the single light on the bedside table. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Duo drummed his fingers on his chest. He couldn't help himself: "So… your best friend is a cat, huh?"

"Shut up."

"Loser."

* * *

"Boys… _Boys?_..." A soft voice called from far away.

Duo rolled onto his back and cracked his eyes open. His mouth was parch dry. "Mom?" He croaked.

"You two better be decent."

"Wha-… Wai-" His weak voice died altogether when the bedroom door opened and he made eye contact with his mother.

Confusion quickly blended into shock. Her mouth fell open at the sight of her son sleeping on the floor on the night before his wedding, but she stepped back without saying anything and pulled the door shut.

The abrupt sound woke Heero up with a start. "What was that?"

"… My mother…"

There was a pause. "Did she…?"

"Yeah." His heart was racing.

"Oh, fuck."

Duo kicked away the blanket that covered him and jumped up from the floor. In his nightwear, his hair completely disheveled, he padded downstairs on bare feet, hoping to catch her and to sway her once more to believing this romance had been real from the start. Before she could get any ideas from which there was no going back. He found her in the kitchen, standing by the coffee pot.

Norman sat at the breakfast table by the window, the sport's section of the newspaper splayed out in front of him. Clearly, his wife hadn't clued him in on anything, because he was positively chipper when his gaze landed on his son. "There he is! Cold feet yet?" He pointedly looked at his bare feet.

He was feeling cold all over, to be perfectly honest. "Uhm, Mom… can I talk to you for a second?"

Norman let out a laugh. "Oh, C.C., please don't tell me you walked in on anything! I told you to leave them be until they came downstairs on their own accord."

"Well, it's already eleven AM," she bit.

Duo's father frowned, but he chalked it up to stress and nerves for her son's big day and shot a look towards his son that clearly communicated he wasn't going to risk getting into it. Duo, however, knew that the only reason his mother was this mad was because his father confided in her about the intrusive call from the USCIS officer. Finding them the way she had on the morning of their wedding was proof towards Chang's accusation. Before long she would tell her husband what she had seen and everything would escalate from there.

"Mom, please? I really need your advice?" He pleaded. "Can we go into the sitting room for a minute."

"Don't bother." With a grunt that aged him, Duo's father got up from the chair and started shuffling out of the kitchen on his slippers. "I was going to take a shower anyway." He headed down the hall and a few seconds later he locked the bathroom door behind him.

"Mom…"

She spun around but wouldn't look at him. Her bottom lip was quivering as she fought to contain her emotions. "Is it true?"

He didn't know what else to do but feign innocence. "Is what true?"

"What that man said on the phone yesterday. The man that called to _this_ house." She pointed down at the flagstone flooring underneath her feet. "The man that said our son is a liar." The last word broke her and the tears started to fall.

"No, we just had an argument last night," he lied pathetically.

She covered her mouth with her hand and mumbled into her palm: "You are a liar…"

His heart hurt. "Mom… Mom, please… I'm sorry." He rushed towards her but she held her other hand out in front of her, keeping him at bay, protecting the space she needed at the moment. "It's true," he said. "The only reason I proposed to Heero, last week, was to keep him in the country." The truth would hurt her, but it was the only way he knew how to convince her that she needed to trust him now and not tell anyone. More lies weren't going to solve anything.

"And I only did that as leverage to get him to agree to put my art up for display in the gallery, because I did still hate him. I really did. But something has changed between us since we came here. I don't know what it is yet, but I want to find out… and I won't if you tell anyone what you saw. Because if Dad finds out, he is going to stop this wedding and call Chang up himself to tell him and he'll send Heero back to Japan and me to prison, possibly."

"Duo, marriage is a sacred institution. You can't disrespect it like this."

Interestingly, he always thought she was going to say that about a gay marriage anyway… "Mom, I beg of you, give us a chance." When he worried that wasn't going to work, he repeated: "I could go to prison."

"Not if you're smart enough not to let it get as far as you intend to take it."

"I'm marrying Heero," he said adamantly. "I'm going to do what I can to keep him here, in the country, whether you're on our side or not. But we'd stand a much better chance if you are."

"Even if I would believe that your feelings for Heero are becoming genuine, I still might not be able to condone this, Darren." She never called him that. "Because even if you have started to fall for him, this wedding is still a fraud. How do you expect me to support that?"

He couldn't answer that. All he could say, barely audible, was: "Please…"

"I need time to think."

He nodded, at least that was something. At the sound of footsteps he turned around and Heero appeared in the archway of the kitchen. The Japanese man saw how distraught Cecilia was and his guilt and regret were evident on his features.

"I'm sorry."

"I need time," the woman said again.

Duo and Heero respected her wish and left her alone.

* * *

They waited upstairs. Waited for the axe to fall. Waited for Norman to come storming up the stairs.

It remained quiet.

They sat in the lounge chairs, by the window. Duo was looking outside. Heero was looking at the bed, or so Duo thought. But when the man spoke up, Duo woke from his trance and followed his gaze to the painting on the wall above the headboard.

"It's a lovely piece," is what Heero had said.

"It's mine," He blurted and studied Heero's face for a reaction.

The curator smiled and flicked his gaze his way. "I know. I knew it from the moment I first walked into this room."

"But you hate my work."

"I never said that."

Duo rolled his eyes. "No, you said you didn't love my work."

"And I said that when I had only seen your recent work; your digital art. I don't like technology as a medium, which is why I didn't love your work. Even though it was good."

The revelation shocked him, to say the least. "You thought my work was good?"

"Hmhm."

"You looked at it for all of ten seconds."

"How long did you have to look at _Nu Descendant l'Escalier_ before you realized how good it was?" He countered.

His eyes widened. "How… How did you know I like Marcel Duchamp?" That was a stupid question. Heero knew art like no one else. It was the reason he was widely known as the best curator of the fine arts in all of New York City.

"Please. The references to cubism and futurism in your other early work, downstairs, are quite heavy-handed. And it's one of the best pieces of the movement. The suggestion of motion is impeccable. Clearly it inspired you, as you've achieved something similar here."

"I… I can't believe you're saying this."

"Don't get me wrong. In the spirit of honesty, I must admit I don't think your work is good enough for the gallery."

His heart sank, only to be lifted again when Heero continued:

"But one day it will be. I hired you as my assistant because I saw your work and I knew there was greatness awaiting and I wanted to be there to see it happen."

"Then why did you act like such a superior cunt?"

"Because I didn't count on your being such a lousy assistant… and because I thought you had given up on your talent and that pissed me off."

Duo reclined in the chair and stared at his own painting from four years ago, his graduation project. "I have to say… these have been quite the couple of days…" Everything of any importance was different now from a few days ago. He knew his family accepted his sexuality. He knew his father supported his dream of being an artist. He knew his boss wasn't a heartless monster, but was a man he could fall for. He knew he had real talent, but he also knew he wasn't ready to have an exposition yet. It was a lot of change to process.

"No shit."

Duo smiled.

The both shot upright at a knock on the door.

"Yeah? Come in."

Norman opened the door. "Your mom just got back."

What? He didn't even know she had left.

"She picked up your tux and Granny. The two lovely ladies will take Heero to the venue to get ready and we'll join them once we get you polished up and presentable for your wedding."

Evidently, C.C. had decided to keep their secret, if only for the time being.

Duo and Heero shared a look.

"Well, go on, don't keep my wife and my mother waiting."

Heero showed a small smile and got up to leave. Norman waited for him to be halfway down the stairs before he asked his son: "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing pretty good." He cast another look at the painting on the wall.

"No cold feet?"

"Rather toasty, actually."

"You're doing better than I did on my wedding day."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Bona fide**_

_A GWCU fanfiction based on The Proposal (2009)_

* * *

_**PART EIGHT**_

His dad had borrowed Frank's prized 1966 Mustang convertible to drive them to the venue. It was a sunny and relatively warm day for late October in Montana, but still cold with the top down. However, it was well worth it and it was only a short ride anyway. Not long enough for the cold to start to hurt his ears, nose and fingers.

The venue, it turned out, was the golf club, courtesy of Dad's lifelong friend. "We couldn't get the church," Norman explained apologetically, as he pulled into a parking spot by the beautiful building.

"Dad, I really didn't expect a church, so no worries." He snickered.

The two men got out of the car and walked in through the side entrance. As they stepped over the threshold, Norman put a hand on his son's shoulder and they shared a look.

Duo got a glimpse of the club's restaurant. He had been there only once before. He knew it to be a large, open space, with an entire wall of windows overlooking the course. It was a space of white floors and vaulted ceilings with white beams. Normally, round tables dotted the restaurant, but those had been cleared away and the chairs had been used to create rows of seating for the guests. About fifty people – the same that had been at the party the night before - were there, divided evenly between the two sides. Obviously, nobody would be attending for Heero. Some guests had already taken their seats, while others were standing around, mingling and laughing at memories of the previous night. White Christmas lights had been wrapped about the beams of the ceiling, about as much as C.C.'s friend was able to pull from storage at City Hall, Duo imagined.

He felt nervous suddenly. Sure, he liked Heero now, but this was still a huge step, never mind dangerous. He paused to check his reflection in the mirrored glass that decorated the hallway and fussed with the bow tie his father had tied for him, because he didn't have a clue how to.

"Leave that alone, would you. You're going to mess it up," his father scolded lightly and swatted away his hands.

"Sorry."

The man smiled at his nervousness showing. "Don't worry about it. It's normal."

He followed his dad into the restaurant and he suddenly found himself standing at the start of the aisle. He took a deep breath.

"There's my favorite grandson," Granny called as she approached.

Duo leaned forward to let her kiss him, as her grabby hands clearly communicated she wanted him to. "Where's Heero?"

"Upstairs with your mother, finishing up. He looks delicious." She winked at him.

Duo forced on a smile. He felt bad about Heero being alone with his mother, he could only imagine the things she was saying to him in anger right now. Funnily, not too long ago he would have loved to be witness to his mother chewing out his boss, but right now he mostly wanted to come to his aid.

"You look acceptable as well," she joked and adjusted his bow tie.

"And you look beautiful," he said.

"I know."

A new voice interrupted: "Duo, can I talk to you for a minute?"

He turned around to face the man who had snuck up behind him. "Enmar? What are you doing here?" With a look towards his grandmother he excused himself and he dragged his friend to a relatively private corner in the back. "How the Hell did my parents even reach you?"

"They didn't. I reached them. I was calling your cell yesterday – must've let it ring for a hundred times – and then your mom answered. She said you were busy having your tux fitted for your _wedding_," he hissed.

"So, what? You want to be my best man that badly?"

"No." He shook his head vehemently. "I can't let you do this."

Duo leaned in closer, meaning to threaten him. "Are you going to report us to Immigration, or something?"

"Fuck, Duo. Of course not. I wouldn't do anything that is going to land you in jail. I'm your friend and I care about you, unlike your _betrothed_." He pushed him back a little. "I flew out here to come talk some sense into you."

Duo glanced around them, hoping nobody would overhear. "You can't be here. You can't be here saying this shit. I need you to leave." If his mother caught wind of this she would only get riled up and then all Hell would break loose.

"Duo, please, don't do this. This is your life, man. This is your _family_. This prick is using you. At worst he is going back to Japan after all. Worst case scenario for you is five years in prison."

"He's not a prick. Not really." The defense was a little lukewarm, but it was a new thing for him, standing up for Heero's honor.

Enmar scoffed. "Then he's not just using you, he's playing you too!"

"Keep your fucking voice down." He grabbed the collar of Enmar's shirt and pulled him out into the shadowy hallway, away from the twinkling lights and the curiosity. His father and grandmother had stalled their own conversation to stare at the two of them from across the room.

Out of sight, he slammed Enmar into the wall. "I thought you were my friend."

"That's precisely why I'm doing this." He angrily shook Duo's hands off him.

Duo's heart leapt up into his throat when he noticed someone approach them and when he looked over his shoulder he recognized Chang. "Did you bring him here?" He asked Enmar.

"I don't even know who that is, dude."

Chang calmly stepped up to them and shook Enmar's hand to formally introduce himself.

"Ohhh, shit…"

"What are you doing here?" Duo demanded to know. "I'm pretty sure you're not on the guest list."

"As an officer of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, I don't need an invitation when I am conducting an investigation." His black eyes pierced straight through Duo. "I pity you, Mister Maxwell. I genuinely do. I've spoken to a Gisele yesterday and she told me all about what you have had to suffer through, working for Mister Yuy. And now he's bribing you into a fraudulent marriage. Gisele also mentioned the curator would not be attending the benefit tomorrow because the wedding is happening today. I don't enjoy sending people like you to prison, Mister Maxwell. You're only making unwise decisions in desperation. I do, however, enjoy deporting people like Mister Yuy; people who are willing to abuse the system to maintain their position of empty power. He's a despicable person and he doesn't deserve your help."

Duo was already coiling back his arm to punch the man in the face, when a surprisingly imposing voice rang through the hallway.

"_Excuse me_…"

_Oh come on!_

Duo's body deflated in defeat. It was like he had been punched instead. Now his mom was walking in? Let's have Granny join them too and see her have a heart attack.

"That is my soon-to-be son-in-law you're talking about."

All three men were equally confused.

"Mister Chang," Duo's mother continued and with each step she took towards them, Chang took a step back and it was the most hilarious thing Duo had ever been witness to. "You are welcome to sit in the back to cure yourself of your own cynicism if you so desire. But I will not let you interfere and ruin one of the most important days of a mother's life: seeing her son get married." She stood beside Duo and linked her arm with his.

Chang's gaze shifted between the two of them and he ended up shaking his head. "You have until Monday." He held his business card out to Duo.

He snatched it out of him hand, only because he knew he wouldn't leave otherwise.

"I'll be in the back," Chang announced. "Not interfering."

With a whispered apology Enmar left as well.

"Mom… Thank you."

Her lips were curved in a sly little smirk.

"What made you change your mind?"

"I had a talk with your grandmother… She told me she had known all along that this was a charade."

Duo's eyes nearly bulged out in surprise. He thought for sure he had been able to fool the old lady. It turned out she had been playing him.

"She also told me she knew instantly that what was fake would become real."

He smiled and shook his head. "And you believed her?" His mother could be as stubborn as his grandmother, he knew.

"No. But then I had an honest talk with Heero."

He expected her to elaborate and waited, but she kept her mouth firmly shut. There was only a hint of a story in the way the corners of her lips curled upwards. "Is Heero ready?"

"Actually, he asked me to go and get you. He wants to talk to you."

He frowned, not knowing what that meant. It seemed like everything was working out in their favor against all odds, so why would he want to talk? He kissed his mom on the cheek and headed down the corridor.

"Up the stairs, second office to the left," she called after him.

He followed her instructions and soon he found Heero waiting for him in a little office with a view of the course. The wedding party was directly below them. Heero was leaning back against the desk and had his arms folded across his chest. He was wearing the most exquisitely tailored burgundy suit with black lapels, over a black shirt. Instead of a tie, he had a broche pinned over the top button and it looked like a piece of art in and of itself. His hair was brushed back. His expression was pensive, the most familiar to Duo.

Granny was right, he did look delicious.

"Hey." Duo closed the door behind him, not wanting a repeat of the situation that had happened downstairs, with one person after another walking up to him at an unwelcome time.

"Hey."

"You look… fantastic."

He smiled. "I know."

He chuckled and momentarily looked down at his feet. "It's no secret why my grandmother has taken an instant liking to you."

"You look halfway towards decent."

He let out an abrupt laugh.

Heero said equally abruptly: "I can't let you do this."

Duo shot a look up at him and took one step closer. "It seems Granny isn't the only one you have something in common with."

"What?"

"Granny just made the same back-handed compliment about my looks. But one of my friends literally just said to me: 'I can't let you do this'." He took another step closer, but this prompted Heero to push away from the desk and walk around, putting the piece of furniture between the two of them.

"You are not risking jail time for me, Duo. I won't let you. It was a mistake to let it get this far and I'm sorry."

"No, you don't have to worry. My mom isn't going to say anything. Chang is downstairs and she totally told him off. It was beautiful, you should have seen it. You would have been proud."

Heero's eyes widened and he paced behind the desk. "Chang is here?"

"You're not hearing me. That's not the point. Mom told him to _shove it_. She has our backs."

"No, you don't get it, Duo. He's not going to back off. The fact that he came all the way out here makes that apparent. He doesn't care that there is something between us now – whatever it is. All he cares about is that this marriage is still nothing but a means for me to get a Green Card and he will find evidence to corroborate that. Because we have two days' worth of history on our side and two _years_' worth of history working against us. Chang is going to find what he needs and he is going to use it to send me to Japan and send you to jail."

Duo was panting without even being aware of it. There was a panic stirring in his that made his fingers itch and his knees tremble. He had always dreamed of Heero flying off to never return, but now it was a nightmare come true. "But… But what about the gallery?"

"Duo, don't worry. I have plenty of connections. I'll get you an exposition somewhere else. We've come so far… I'll honor our agreement."

He squawked a pathetic chuckle. "I didn't mean that. I didn't mean that at all. In fact, someone I trust told me I wasn't ready for a show yet, so I don't want any more anyway."

Heero stilled.

"What I meant is: you _love_ the gallery."

Heero's almond-shaped eyes softened, creasing in the corners at the beginnings of the most affectionate smile. "I think I could maybe love you more, someday."

_Think. Could. Maybe. Someday_. Duo wasn't deterred by any of that. What he heard was Heero confessing something that he never thought he would hear and never thought he would want to hear. He stood there, waiting for the pulse of electricity to pass so he could regain control over his muscles again. "I think I could love you too. But how would we know if you leave for Japan?"

"It would only be for a year," Heero pointed out. "After that I can reapply for a Visa, the right way. We could try the long-distance thing at first. I'm sure you can find another sucker in New York to be an awful, awful assistant to." He grinned. "If the long-distance things yields promising results… you could join me in Tokyo for a while, if you'd want. You won't see much of the starry sky, but the city does have a Hell of a skyline to inspire you."

Heero stunned him again with how well he was able to interpret his art, pinpointing that city lights were a major influence in his work of bright, moving colors on a dark backdrop.

One thought bothered him. "Did my mother talk you into this?"

"We did talk for a while," Heero admitted. "But in the end she said that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea for us to get married after all."

He snorted. "My mother _is_ a romantic above all else."

"But she's wrong. The way I see it, we've only known each other for two days. You told me you don't even kiss on the first date, so you'll agree that it's too soon."

Duo thought for a second. He had gotten so oddly used to the idea that he was getting married today, that it was hard to let go of. Making a budding relationship work with one person being in Japan and the other in new York would be a challenge. But not as much of a challenge as having one person in Japan and the other in prison. He had to admit that the weight of a prison sentence not hanging over him like an anvil could only benefit them in the long haul.

"What are you thinking?" Heero wondered.

"I'm thinking… I'm thinking Granny might also like visiting Tokyo this Christmas, instead of New York."

The Japanese man smiled and Duo was really starting to get used to the sight of it.

"Will you come out from behind that desk now, pussy?"

Heero did just that. In large strides he rounded the desk and the two collided into an embrace. Duo nuzzled his hair. The shampoo he used smelled like oranges. He chuckled lightly, remembering one of the questions from the list.

_What shampoo does your partner use?_

He didn't have to think about that kind of stuff anymore. All he thought about now was how nice it smelled.

In the quiet of the tender moment, he remembered his friends and family, gathered downstairs to show their support in a way he never dared to hope they would offer him. He still didn't want to disappoint them. He pulled back only far enough to look Heero in his eyes. "What do you say we go through with the ceremony anyway?"

"Duo, we just agreed-"

"No, hold up. I didn't say we should get married. This is just the ceremony. We'd still have to sign paperwork in New York if we wanted to make it official. The people are expecting romance. So how about we go downstairs and give them a bit of _bona fide_ romance?."

"Won't Chang get the wrong impression?"

"We'll handle Chang. We'll tell him he's won, that'll satisfy him."

"You really want to do this?"

"Heck yeah. Let's have a party… consider it our first date," he said smartly. "Now, I did tell you that, at most, I usually only kiss goodnight at the end of a first date. But tonight will also be our wedding night… so I still fully intend on breaking that dry spell you've been having." They couldn't let that hotel room that had been booked for the night go to waste…

Heero bit his bottom lip and it caused Duo to impatiently seize it as soon as his teeth released it and he suckled on the lip instead before engaging him in a 'bona fide' kiss. The first chance he got, Heero breathed: "Then I guess I'm in." After another minute, his laugh interrupted the kiss. "Don't get me hard right before the wedding."

Duo pressed his forehead against Heero's, with a stupid smile on his face. These past few days had been insane and thinking about the past two years he spent hating Heero made him morose. He stroked his fingers down the lapel of Heero's jacket, while he studied his face, taking another moment to admire his regal beauty.

"What?" Heero's voice was so soft, Duo wouldn't have heard him if they hadn't been close enough to feel each other's' warm breath.

"Think of all the people in the world who are convinced they hate each other. How little it might take to change that…"

"… Sap."

"Cunt."

He disentangled them and smoothed the few wrinkles out of Heero's jacket. He said mockingly: "You seriously packed this shit for a trip to Montana?"

"You truly don't know me at all."

"Well… in my defense… this is only our first date."

**THE END**

* * *

**Author's note: They served _C_**_**HE**_**_ESE_cake at the wedding.**

**Let me know what movie adaptation you want to see added to the GWCU next!**


End file.
